The Anti-Life Crisis
by adeadfreelancer
Summary: Sequel to The Anti-Life Overture, Darkseid arrives to see the destruction of the Earth, along with all life on the planet. The world's heroes band together to beat back the forces of Apokolips, but face considerable losses. Darkseid's forces are seemingly endless, and many are as powerful as Superman. Even if they were to win against impossible odds, not all would make it back.
1. The Omen

Gotham City, 1942

Wesley Dodds walks through a back alley as the sun begins to set. He's a somewhat short man, and a bit chubby, and very harmless looking. He has short reddish-brown hair and dull brown eyes hidden behind wire frame glasses. He dressed in a dark green suit with yellow pinstripes under a brown trench coat, while a fedora rested on his head. As he reached a staircase leading down to a basement, he reached into his coat and produced a yellow gasmask with green tinted goggles.

The Sandman stepped down the stairs, pulling a homemade gas grenade from his left pocket and a gun connected to a bottle of his own special knockout gas from within his coat. He looked down to an iron door with an eye slot leading into the basement he needed access to. Though he wasn't as strong as many of his peers, he was resourceful.

He knocked on the door and waited for someone to pull back the slot. A few moments later blue eyes stared at him as a gravelly voice asked, "What's the password?"

"Poison," the Sandman replied as he pushed the grenade through the slot. Upon hitting the ground it released a cloud of green smoke that quickly filled up the room. "Open the door, or you die."

The man began to frantically undo locks on the other side as he coughed before pushing open the door and running out to catch his breath. The Sandman stepped out of the way, and a moment later he fell to the ground unconscious. He wasn't a killer, but it helped to look like one. The sleep gas administered from his gun worked instantly, while the grenades took nearly half a minute to work but were still quite useful.

He stepped into the basement, finding another door waiting for him at the end of what was essentially an empty hall. Empty, aside from a red flag baring a swastika on one wall, and the Crest of Owls on the other. It wasn't surprising that there were Nazis in Gotham, but it was disheartening none the less. Still, he wouldn't be slowed down by a flag. He could always burn it on the way out.

Past the door he found a large room with three men occupying it, drinking wine as they played cards. Each one dressed in a fine suit, far more expensive than what Wesley wore, while white masks with large dark eyes and small sharp noses covered their faces. Owls. Nothing more than another pesty predator for the Sandman to take care of.

The Sandman approached the table, alerting one of the Owls who rose to his feet in panic before he gassed him. The Owl's body hit the floor in a heart beat as the other two rose to their feet. He quickly gassed the second while the third reached for a pistol on the table. The Sandman grabbed his arm before he could take it while the second Owl fell to the ground, then he pushed the last one to the wall and brought his right arm over the Owl's throat.

"I need answers," he growled. "Who's the Talon!?"

"Ha ha!" the Owl laughed, his voice strained.

"Whose his net target!?"

"Why… you, of course…"

Behind the Sandman rose a black shape with bronze goggles over its black mask. In one hand it held a dagger and the other sharpened bronze claws. It pulled its arm back as it prepared to stab him in the back, before a yellow portal suddenly opened to their right. The Sandman, Talon, and the Owl all turned to look as a man dressed in crimson red and bright fell out of the portal, followed by a large creature that appeared to be a partially decomposed corpse dressed in gold bug like armor.

The man leapt off the ground as the monster charged at him, landing behind it before turning around and kicking it in the back. The monster was thrown backwards and collided with Talon, knocking both to the ground. As they recovered the man produced a small cubicle black box with a yellow glass circle on each side. Beneath the monster and Talon another portal appeared, pulling both inside, before the man jumped in after them. The portal closed, leaving the Sandman and Owl alone.

"What on Earth did I just see?" the Owl asked, before the Sandman silently gassed him.

As the Owl's unconscious body fell to the ground the Sandman said to himself, "Interesting. It appears I have more work to do," then set off on a new mission.

Gotham, 2011

Dick Grayson sat at the Batcomputer, watching a news report from the Daily Planet. Lois Lane stood in front of an empty grave in an otherwise empty field. Her emotional distress was well hidden as she spoke confidently for the camera. "Some time in the last week Superman's body was stolen, for unknown purposes. Cruel prank, or sinister plan, we don't know. If you have any information on the whereabouts of his body or the thief, contact the police department immediately. I'm Lois Lane, signing off."

Behind Dick rose the Batman who asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, but I'm still not sure what for," Dick replied.

"I told you. we need to show up for pictures. It's good publicity."

"It's just another office building! We should be beating up some bad guys, not taking pictures with a bunch of rich snobs!"

"I'm a rich snob."

"You know what I mean."

"What about that Miracle guy? Is he coming?"

"No. I left him in a new prototype cell for Arkham. He's testing it for us."

Star City

Oliver Queen and Roy Harper practice training in the Arrowcave, which Oliver has insisted Batman stole from him. Though both are incredibly skilled archers, they aren't the best when it comes to hand-to-hand combat, and as such practice disarming each other. Behind them Felicity Smoak watches in boredom as she sips coffee and scrolls through her Twitter feed.

In the streets above Dinah lance dawns a sleeveless leather jacket and a pair of jeans before pulling fish net gloves over her arms. She looks into her bedroom mirror as she tries on an air mask, before deciding against it. Instead she pulls on domino mask that covers most of her upper face and decides it will have to do. Not that anyone would recognize her anyway.

Central City

A train comes loose from its tracks and barrels towards the Central City zoo. Before it can reach the parking lot, the horrified passengers and crew find themselves peacefully not just back on track but reaching their destination in Star City half an hour ahead of schedule. Back in Central City, both Flash and Kid Flash take a moment to appreciate their work.

"My arms hurt," Kid Flash says after a moment, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, mine too," the Flash replies.

"But damn was that cool."

"Hell yeah that was cool! I mean, we lifted a freaking train out of the air!"

"I know, right! Was that super strength!?"

"I don't know! I think it was a combination of our enhanced strength and running so fast, we could just kind of push it however we wanted!"

"Oh my god! That was… SO fucking cool."

"Watch the language."

"Sorry, Barry."

"It's cool, Wally. Now, let's say we get some tacos? I'm starving."

Metropolis

Kara Zor-El, dawning an identical outfit to the one her cousin wore, punches an alien called Lobo in the jaw hard enough to dislocate it, hurting her own hand in the process. Lobo returns with an attack of his own, punching Kara in the throat before kicking her in the chest, knocking her back across the street.

Lobo stood 6'4 and was a solid wall of muscle. His skin is pure white and his hair blacker than night. His eyes glow red while the skin around them is black and looks almost like exaggerated makeup. Despite being an alien with minimal time spent on Earth, he dressed like a biker stereotype with a leather jacket over a white tank top and dark jeans tucked into combat boots. Wrapped around his right arm is a chain that ends in a hook which he holds in his meaty fist, while several grenades cover his person.

His jaw almost instantly popped back in place and he growled out in a gravelly voice, "Bastiche! No one hurts th' main man's face! Th' main man's gonna rip off your fraggin' arms!"

What!?" Kara asked, having no idea what most of that meant.

Before either could make a move against the other, a shadow covered them that stretched over the entire city. Lobo looked up first, his eyes widening with shock, before Kara turned and looked too. It took all her willpower not to crumble at the sight of the skull shaped ship that stole her home city.

"Aw, frag no!" Lobo cursed. "Brainiac's here!? This bastiche is out o' here!"

Kara watched as he whistled, summoning a pile of junk that looked vaguely like a flying motorcycle. He quickly hopped on and flipped his middle finger at her before flying away, leaving Kara to remark, "What the hell was that?"

A booming monotone voice played through every electronic device in the city, "People of Metropolis. Your world is doomed. You have been chosen as a shining example of the perfect city and will be spared from the tragedy. You will be kept in my collection of cities, each taken from a dead world forever. You will not die. You will not age. You will live forever, in display. If you do not comply, you will be eliminated."

Across the city there were cries of terror, voices called out for their heroes, for Superman most of all. Kara let out a cry of rage and flew upwards, pulling her arm back as she prepared for a devastating blow on the ship's hull. Pods began to launch from across the ship, each one carrying three skeletal robots that served as The Collector's private army. She wouldn't lose another home to the monster.

Kara struck the ship with all she had, only to receive a painful electrical shock as a dark blue energy shield was momentarily revealed before disappearing again. This filled her with even more rage, and she began to strike it with everything she had, only to electrocute herself several more times. At last she resorted to her heat vision, only for it to be deflected back at her. She narrowly dodged the beam before yelling with anger and giving it one last punch, which shocked her once again.

"Uh, hi," came a deep but shy voice from behind her. She turned to see Shazam who said, "I have something that might work. But I'll need you to catch me. And also, please don't freak out."

"Okay," Kara replied. "What is it?"

He then smiled and yelled out at the top of his lungs, "SHAZAM!"

A massive bolt of blue lightning descended from seemingly nowhere, striking the ship before ripping through the top of the hull all the way out to where Shazam floated. Upon contact with him his muscular form disappeared, revealing the small defensless teenager who fell to the ground below. Kara's eyes widened before she quickly flew down and caught him in mid-air, before safely lowering him to the ground.

"What was that!?" she asked. "Why is everything so weird on this planet!?"

"Oh, I got magical powers from an old wizard," Billy casually replied.

"WHAT!?"

"How did you get your powers?"

Kara sighed and said, "I don't have time for this," before flying back towards the ship.

Billy called out after her, "Wait! Can I get your number?"

As Kara flew back towards the ship, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen arrived on scene in a news van. Lois wasted no time running out to find the perfect place for her report, while Jimmy pulled the video camera from the back of the van before making his way towards her. Jimmy lined up the camera, so Lois stood adjacent to the distant sight of Kara ripping open the ship's hull before counting down the seconds until they were live.

He mouthed, "Five, four, three, two,"

Lois smiled and said, "I'm Lois Lane, live on the scene as Supergirl attacks the alien space ship that appeared over Metropolis a few minutes ago. Before this eye witnesses reported she was battling some form of metahuman or perhaps an alien, that may own this ship. After arriving, a voice warned all citizens of the city that it would be taking us as a souvenir. Let's see how well it likes a good old Metropolis welcome."

Central City

Wally West sat in his bedroom flicking through TV channels as he ate a chili dog. Finding nothing interesting on any of the cartoon or movie channels, he decided to watch the news in hopes something interesting was happening. His eyes widened with excitement as he saw Lois' report, and he stuffed the rest of the chili dog into his mouth before dropping the remote control as he moved towards his Kid Flash costume.

He pulled the uniform on before looking around in confusion for his boots, not seeing them anywhere. After checking under his bed he found one, while the other he had somehow left on top of his closet door. After pulling them on he looked around for his mask for a moment, before remembering it was attached to his costume. He reached behind his head and pulled it over his face, before running out the door. Behind him, the remote fell onto his pillow.

Metropolis

Kara entered the ship, flying past massive wires and cables that reached on endlessly. Most others would marvel at the advanced and intricate design of the ship, but Kara didn't care. The only thing she made note of was to destroy it from the inside out once she was done beating its owner into a paste.

Wally arrived in Metropolis only seconds after Kara entered the ship, as massive anchors were shot out of it, embedding in the ground around the edge of Metropolis. It didn't take a genius for Wally to realize what he had to do. Without wasting a moment he ran to each anchor, climbing up the cables connecting them to the ship, and vibrated his hand at the right frequency to cut each one free before running to the next.

Once finished he took a moment to admire his work before he realized he no longer had a way inside the ship. "Oh," he whispered to himself. "Shit."

"Excuse me, Kid Flash?" Lois asked as she jogged up to him. "Can I have a moment of your time?"

"I don't have a moment," Wally replied, running away.

"Fucking super heroes," Lois cursed before turning back to her cameraman. "Alright, Jimmy. Back to filming the ship."

Wally ran around the perimeter of the city hundreds of times, building up speed. Once satisfied he ran through the streets before reaching a building that he began to run straight up. He moved so fast he was barely able to step onto its roof, before leaping off the ledge towards the ship. He moved his knees under his chin and held them tight as he began to vibrate his entire body, hoping he was hitting the right frequency.

He passed through the hull of the ship with ease, before slowing his vibration down to that of a normal human. He wasn't prepared for the impact however and collided with the ground harshly before hitting a wall, cracking his ribs. He groaned in pain as he slowly pulled himself up, looking around for signs of life. There were none, nothing but machinery and odd lights built into the various cables and walls.

Kara arrived at the ship's command room, unaware of Wally. Her fists clenched as she glared up at the monster that stole her family. He towered over her even as he sat upon a throne of cables, his full height being eight feet tall. His skin was dark green although it was barely visible beneath a nearly entirely cybernetic body, while his eyes glowed bright green. Purple lights pulsed across his body, while ten cables connected into his back and two dozen wires were pressed into the back of his head.

"Kara Zor-El," he said in a monotone voice. "Alias: Supergirl. Last survivor of the planet Krypton. I see you've come to offer yourself to me."

"Not today, Collector," Kara growled.

"Please, call me Braniac. Are you here to stop me then?"

"That's," Kara began before Wally was suddenly standing next to her.

"Me too!" he enthusiastically said.

"Wally West. Alias: Kid Flash."

"Dude, you don't have to just throw my secret identity out there."

"I don't care," Kara hissed at him. "I was in the middle of something."

Brainiac continued, "Metahuman. Yet you do not possess the meta-human gene. Interesting."

"Wait, what?" Wally asked in surprise.

"I will have to study you intensely. Defeating you two shall be no trouble," he said as he rose to his feet, wires and cables disconnecting from his body. "It has been quite some time since I have had the pleasure of engaging in combat with a worthy opponent."

Kara let out a yell of anger as she flew forward, punching Brainiac in the side of the face as hard as she could. The only affects were his head being pushed to the side while his lip was slightly cut open, spilling pale green blood. He smiled and wiped the blood from his mouth before saying, "Interesting."

Brainiac punched Kara in the gut, knocking the air from her and throwing her against the wall. Wally looked to her in surprise, not expecting Brainiac to be nearly that powerful. He quickly readied himself and ran forward, landing punches across Brainiac's body as he ran around him in a circle. Brainiac remained stationary for several seconds, which allowed Wally to plant hundreds of punches, before the alien grabbed him by the throat and suspended him in the air.

"You are very fast. But you must build up your speed. That is an error," Brainiac stated.

"Fuck off," Wally replied through a strained voice.

Before either could say anything, there came the sound of a massive explosion that shook not just the ship but the entire planet, along with the moon, Mars, and Venus. Those who watched space and even the skies in most of Europe, saw the impossible. A small black planet filled with fire loomed over the Earth, somehow spared from Earth's orbit.

Brainiac said, "Oh. It appears I'm too late."

Kara rose to her feet and coughed out, "No… not him…"

"Who is it?" Wally asked, struggling to get free from Brainiac's voice.

"The one who destroyed my planet."

"Darkseid," Brainiac said in a tone that was almost fearful. "The Lord of Apokolips."


	2. Nemo Eht

Henry Bendix stared in a mix between awe and horror out the viewport of the Stormwatch satellite, unable to believe what he was seeing. An entire planet loomed over them, burning like a coal fire. Though it was much smaller than the Earth, it was still nearly the size of the moon, and was massively larger than their impressively sized satellite.

"Sir?" came a light and concerned voice from behind him.

He turned to see Adrianna Tereshkova standing before him, a low level Stormwatch pilot. She had cold blue eyes and jet-black hair that had been cut short. Her skin had grown pale since being stationed on the satellite, without exposure to the sun. She had a look of worry on her face but was remaining strong despite the situation.

"My ship's prepped with Team-3 onboard. What are our orders?"

"Get everyone off here, now…"

"Sir?"

"We can't handle… THAT," he said, gesturing out to Apokolips. "Get everyone to as many ships as possible. Send the short runners to Earth. Any compatible with The Bleed, get to our allies across the universe. Keep only a skeleton crew on board as long as possible, then evacuate through the teleporters."

"Yes sir," she replied, turning to relay the orders to her fellow officers.

Bendix looked back to Apokolips and said to himself, "This isn't going to end well…"

Tower of Fate, Brazil

Doctor Fate looked to the magic users before him, each one strong and battle ready. He knew they wouldn't be enough but said nothing. There was John Constantine, Zatanna Zatara, princess Amethyst of Gemworld, and the dreaded Swamp Thing. Though each of them had proven to be great warriors, each capable of incredible feats of magic, it would take far more than them to defeat a god.

He said to them in his other worldly voice, "He has arrived."

"Well, then where the hell is he?" Constantine asked, looking around.

Zatanna smacked him in the back as Doctor Fate continued, "We do not have long. Soon the first wave will arrive, and the blood shed shall be great. For now, all we can do is keep at bay the endless legions of doom."

"Wait, why don' we just pop into his house, kill em from behind? Can' be that hard."

"Likely, he is already aware of us. Even if we were to attempt an assassination we would be overwhelmed by his personal guard. They are far more powerful than the first wave."

"How powerful?" Swamp Thing asked.

"They are all gods."

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Amethyst asked.

Fate wasted no time ordering, "Swamp Thing, form barriers around major cities. They will focus on causing as much damage to the dominant race before moving onto rapidly polluting the planet. Zatanna, you shall persuade the various world leaders into evacuating their cities and unifying their militaries. Constantine, you must enter Hell to gather a force powerful enough to defend the planet."

"Hold up," Constantine said. "You expect Hell to jus', give us soldiers?"

"No," Fate replied. "I imagine it will take some convincing."

"Fuckin spectacular," he sarcastically remarked.

"Amethyst, you shall travel with me."

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We must venture into The Chaos Realm. There is… an old friend I must meet."

"You have friends?" Constantine asked.

"Who is it, Fate?" Zatanna asked.

"That is none of your business," he replied as he opened a golden portal in front of them. "Amethyst, you must be prepared for conflict. The Chaos Realm's title is not a euphemism."

"I got it," Amethyst replied as she stepped up behind him.

The two entered the portal, leaving their team behind as it quickly closed behind them. They stood in a tunnel of beautiful pink light that stretched on endlessly. As they walked Amethyst could just barely see branching paths up ahead, yet they walked in a straight line that never once branched. Occasionally she would see herself and Fate walking on these other paths, and sometimes other people entirely.

After several minutes she asked, "What is this place?"

"Merely a limbo," Fate replied. "The realm beneath The Bleed, it has no name. it is required to pass through it in order to reach our destination."

"I keep seeing other paths."

"Yes, there are many."

"What are they?"

"They are each the path we walk, in a different universe. Pay them no mind."

"So, there's a bunch of other versions of us all going here?"

"No, they go to their own Chaos Realm. Likely, many of them will never make it."

"Why?"

"Because the most powerful thing in the multiverse is the simplest. Hopelessness. It infects many worlds, drowning them in despair, killing their heroes for little reason."

"Oh. How do we know we're going to make it?"

"I assure you, we make it to our destination."

"Yeah, but how? You never explain anything right."

"Because I see the past and future, from the beginning of time to the end."

"So you even know when you die?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to do anything to stop it?"

"No."

"That's wild."

"Indeed."

"So, what's the outcome of our whole fight?"

"You refer to a war, not a fight. And I cannot tell you that."

"Riiiiight. Well, what about the end? Of the universe, I mean. How does it all end?"

"It simply does."

"What?"

"In finer details, life ceases to be. The Endless end one by one. With no one to dream, Dream is the first. Desire goes next, plunging the others into Despair. Destruction takes her life, but it is all to much for Delirium, who drives all of them mad, until she erases herself from existence in a fit of pure insanity. Without her, the others are able to see the universe clearly for the first-time in. Destruction asks his sister to take him, but she refuses. Death can only claim the dead. So he kills himself. Time begins to unravel, until at last their father dies. Night, who held the Endless for so long, lets out one last song before fading away. At last only Destiny and Death remain. He looks to his sister, having known how the universe would end from the moment he was born. He tells her that she did a good job, then he no longer is. At last only Death remains in an empty universe. With a snap of her fingers, it truly ends, leaving behind nothing."

"I have. Literally no idea. What any of that meant."

"No, you wouldn't."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"We are here."

Amethyst looked ahead, seeing only the never-ending tunnel. Then suddenly she was on her knees, blood leaking from her eyes, nose, and ears while she felt like she was facing the opposite direction. She tried to speak, but the only sound that came out were squeaks, and she could barely see through the blood that coated her eyes.

"I told you she would survive," Fate said, though she could barely hear him.

Amethyst looked for her companion and found him with another person dressed similarly to him. in fact, she was nearly identical to him, other than colors and material. The woman's costume was yellow where his was blue, and blue where his was yellow. Where his costume was gold, hers was sapphire. Her face was just barely visible beneath her sapphire mask, revealing Egyptian features with particularly sharp eyes.

"W-who? I don't…" Amethyst gasped, rising to her feet.

"Your mind could not comprehend The Chaos Realm," Fate told her.

"Your senses barely could either," the woman added.

"This is Khepri Maverick. My wife."

"I am Set. His mortal enemy."

"I don't," Amethyst began.

"Khepri possesses the helmet of Set, in contrast to my helmet of Nabu," Fate explained. Although I would say minor enemy, not mortal."

"That hurts, darling," Khepri replied.

"Why?" Amethyst asked. "Why do we need her? Now?"

They said together, "A man and a woman, two gods."

"One of order," said Khepri.

"One of chaos," said Fate.

Both finished together, "Only together do we stand a chance."

Hell, Glutton's Waste

The concept of time does not exist in Hell, not as it does on Earth. Space is simply a construct with vague rules that can be manipulated by most of the denizens of Hell. Even a human can do as they please in Hell, provided they know the rules. As John Constantine walked through the empty desert of Gluttony, he had not a care in the world, for he knew the rules better than most demons did.

Beneath the yellow sands were starved and dehydrated faces that mouthed to Constantine for help, but he paid them no attention. Truthfully, it was their own faults they ended up in Hell anyway. They're the ones that chose it when they died. A series of dark clouds drifted overhead, plump with water that would never fall. There were frequently demons who would stand over the mortal souls, feasting on all kinds of foods, teasing the punished. Of course, there would be no release from their anguish. Now there was no sign of any demon, big or small. This worked well for Constantine.

He abruptly stopped in his tracks as he came to a satisfying spot. He silently reached into his coat pockets, producing a pack of cigarettes in one hand and a flip lighter in the other. He pulled two cigarettes from the box before putting it back in his pocket, then lit one. He pocketed the lighter as he smoked, purposefully avoiding eye contact with the faces beneath him. After several minutes he crouched down and put the cigarette out on the forehead of a face who looked up at him with pleading eyes.

As he stood back up a door opened in front of him, in an otherwise empty space. A blue spiky demon stood before him in a black suit and bowtie, with a domino mask covering its white eyes as it looked to him in boredom. Behind the demon were hundreds more, each one dressed in a black suit or dress. Many of them held mostly human forms, while many still kept their demonic forms despite the human clothing.

The demon said in a scaly and bored voice, "Just you, sir?"

"Tha's right," Constantine replied as he stepped in.

"Shall I take your coat?"

"Fuck off."

"Yes, sir."

Constantine looked over the demons who talked amongst themselves and danced, reenacting the parties whispered to them by the mortals they tortured. Having never experienced them themselves, the demons did an impressive job. Though Constantine had to question why there was a fully decorated Christmas tree in one corner of the room. Several demons attempted to drag him into conversation, but he pushed past them, looking over every inch of the room.

At last he resorted to his most dangerous of tactics. He called out, "Oi! Where's the bloke in charge!?"

A deep guttural voice rang out throughout the room, knocking several small demons to their feet as it said, "Who dares interrupt my BALL!?"

"I did," Constantine replied with a smirk.

The demons all parted around him, creeping as far as they could to the walls, so their master knew they were not associated with the stranger. Constantine stared ahead at the head demon, unphased by his appearance. The demon stood ten feet tall and was covered in spikes, some of which held eyes or fingers on them. Its eyes were nearly entirely white, with pin sized black irises in the center. It held knife sized claws on each finger, and a cow's tail that ended with a single giant tooth. The teeth in its head were impressively large and sharp, cutting open the demon's lips just by existing. On its head were two small horns, while two more grew from where nipples would be. Instead of feet it had a pair of large hooves, but otherwise humanoid legs. Most horrifying of all was the large white powdered wig it wore on its head.

The demon growled, "Who the hell do you think you are!? You come into my party, UNINVITED! You come callin' for me, then you got the balls to smile about it!? You ruined the fuckin' fun!"

Constantine replied, "I've got a request for you."

"Then spit it out, before I drown you in piss!"

"I want you all to defend Earth."

The demon stared at him in stunned silence, while his lesser congregation looked on with anticipation. At last, he began to laugh, deep pig like sounds. The other demons began to laugh too, each with their own twisted voice, some nearly human, and others too otherworldly to comprehend. The only one that remained silent was Constantine, who watched with the smirk still on his face.

He said, "Alright then. How 'bout we smoke on it?" and extended the cigarette for the demon to take.

The demon let out one last chuckle then approached him, snatching the cigarette from his fist before inspecting it. "Poisoned?"

"Of course not. Half you lot are immune to it anyway. But I would like to challenge you to a duel."

The demon chuckled before saying, "Alright then. What's your weapon of choice?"

"Words."

"Fucking pansy. Done," he agreed, lighting the cigarette and bringing it to his lips.

"Ekoms eht no ekohc," Constantine said, his smirk growing into a wide grin.

The demon began to cough as it choked on the smoke of the cigarette, something that should be no problem to it. It looked to Constantine with bulging eyes and attempted to reach towards him, only for its hand to be stopped by an invisible wall. With horror it realized it had sealed its own fate by letting him set the parameters of the duel. It fell away, barely able to breathe as it looked around wildly for some way out. Of course, there was none. It had been outsmarted by a mortal in the simplest of ways and had no escape from death.

Everyone there, mortal and demon, looked on in surprise as a new figure stood next to the demon's dying body. A moment later she was joined by the demon himself. The woman was beautiful, the most beautiful any of them had ever seen. To Constantine she had pale white skin that looked almost painted, with exquisite winged eyeliner. Her hair was long and black, falling over exposed shoulders. Her eyes were a deep gorgeous brown, that looked into his very soul. She dressed in a sleeveless black crop top and black jeans, while a silver ankh rested over her chest.

Death said to him, "Hi there, John."

"Uh, hi," Constantine replied, taken back by her appearance here.

"This is a bit unorthodox. Just wanted to tell you, you're one of my favorites."

"Thank you?"

"Don't look so glum. I only collect the dead. You've still got a while left."

"How long?"

"A lifetime. No more, no less."

Then with that, she was gone, taking the demon's essence with her. Constantine recomposed himself and looked over the shocked demons before saying, "Well then. You saw it first. Looks like I'm your new master. Bow down before me."

With that each and every one of the demons fell to their knees, bowing before their new master. Of course, Constantine was smart enough to know that his rule wouldn't last long. Demons were inherently untrustworthy, constantly warring and betraying each other. Still, he was confident he could use them for a time.

He asked, "How many are you?"

The demon that opened the door for him stood up and stepped forward as he said, "Three hundred and six living in attendance, sir. With the exception of you, of course."

"Those not in attendance?"

"About a hundred thousand, maybe more, maybe less, depending on whose alive."

"Great! Now, as I said earlier, you're all going to Earth. We've got a planet to protect.

"If I may, sir."

"O' course."

"Rhaeshon will be reborn soon. He won't let you keep his title."

"No, I wouldn't think so. Luckily, I don't want to keep it. Now, we've got a war to get involved in."

"Under whose banner do we fight?"

"Constantine."

The demon turned back to its kin and declared, "All hail Constantine, Duke of Hell!" earning him a chorus of blood thirsty roars.

Constantine waved his hand, opening a burning portal in front of him before stepping forward. The demons followed behind, those in human guise casting it away in favor of their true forms. Sharp teeth and claws ripped through flesh, muscle and fat replaced empty husks, while horns grew from skulls. Spikes rose across bodies, tails grew from various places, limbs fell away, new limbs grew in odd spots, and only two sets of wings rose up.

United Nations, D.C.

Zatanna stood staring at a gun barrel held by a secret service agent, while six more surrounded her. Appearing through a portal unannounced to the world leaders was not the wisest of plans, she noted. However, she found herself in little danger. They were all just human, after all.

She said, "Snug ruoy rewol," causing them all to immediately drop their weapons. "Now then, presidents, prime ministers, and whatever the hell the rest of you are," she addressed the world leaders.

"I curse you," Black Adam growled.

"Outside, there's an entire planet full of bad guys that wants to kill you. Not just you, but EVERYONE on the PLANET! Now let me say this: I hate almost all of you. You're all horrible people. But that doesn't matter right now. What matters is working together, all of us. Together, we stand a chance of surviving this. Now, what do you say?"

The world leaders looked to one another, considering her words very briefly. Then they began to laugh, and boo, and jeer at her. There was never a way a single woman could convince two hundred politicians to come together, especially not when most of them were at war with each other. Zatanna glared at them before opening her mouth, preparing to force them to join forces. Unfortunately, no words left her mouth.

An explosion shook the building, knocking Zatanna off her feet. It was followed by several more, nearly drowning out the screams of two hundred politicians. Black Adam rose into the air, floating towards Zatanna. Before he could reach her the roof caved in on top of him, trapping him beneath rubble. Zatanna climbed to her feet, coughing on the dust as she looked around.

Parademons were entering the building from the hole in the roof, dozens of them, each armed with a laser rifle. They weren't good shots, but they didn't have to be when all their targets were in a confined space. Zatanna found herself unable to speak and so quickly summoned a shield around herself while she watched world leaders and secret service agents being shot to death around her. She cleared her throat, attempting to speak as she watched the atrocity unfold.

She watched as the rubble trapping Black Adam was pushed to the side, and the demigod rose to his feet filled with unbridled anger. He yelled out at the top of his lungs, "SHAZAM!" summoning down lightning that tore through the building and struck every parademon inside.

If only he had studied his enemy, he would have known this was an unwise plan. His lightning only killed a few of the parademons, the weakest of the horde. The rest were burned to a crisp and were unable to fight, promoting them to their most dangerous state. Thirty-two parademons exploded nearly at once, completely destroying the building. Every person inside with the exception of Zatanna and Adam were killed nearly instantly. The rest died from blood loss, severe burns, or were crushed by debris.

Black Adam was virtually at the center of the explosion, and unprotected. He took the full force, burning through his clothes and flesh before being crushed moments later. He laid naked, a bloody cinder, beneath a pile of scorched wood, brick, and steel. Zatanna's shield was a powerful one, but even it had its limits. It gave away as the explosion went past but did little to save her from the knockback. Her breath was knocked out of her on impact and she was barely able to summon a new shield before the building collapsed down upon her, burying her alive.

Gotham City, Slaughter Swamp

Already the legions of Apokolips came as Swamp Thing made his way to the center of the swamp. Some dozens of lives would be lost before he could raise his barriers, but billions more would be saved, or so he hoped. He could feel the monstrous creatures across the planet's surface, their very existence pollution and death incarnate. They would stay away from this swamp he knew, for they preyed upon fear, and fear was what kept it safe from trespassers.

As the Swamp Thing moved deeper and deeper into the swamp, his form became larger. The plant matter, algae, and fungus throughout the swamp collected on his body, becoming a part of him. The dead bodies, human and animal alike, even those of insects, all fueled him. Made him stronger. His flesh, which is what he considered it, became more brightly green until he was practically emerald in hue.

At last he was at the center of the swamp, where a single massive water tupelo rose from the water. The Swamp Thing pressed his back to the tree and sunk into it, until only his face protruded, and closed his eyes. He could feel beyond the trees now. He could feel every single living thing across the planet, life itself. But he could also feel the death, all of it. It was agonizing at first, but he quickly fought past it.

Gotham was first, it was the closest city, so it would be the easiest. Thick green vines grew across the perimeter of the city, rising up over it until Gotham was covered in a dome shape. Then trees of all kinds grew within the city, even beneath roads and buildings, forming support columns for the vines. Lastly, massive thorns shot out from the vines, impaling dozens of parademons on them. It would have to be enough. He moved onto the next two cities, then the next three, then six, then eighteen, and so on.

Each city the Swamp Thing saved took an enormous amount of energy from him, but he continued. Each and every city across the planet was saved, at least for a time. Once finished, the Swamp Thing fell asleep. He would not wake again. John Henry would never live again.


	3. Gotham Apocalypse

The Bleed, outside of time and space

Two dozen ships traveled through The Bleed, their pilots relying entirely upon computer programs to navigate them through the crimson purgatory. Most of the inhabitants knew Hendry Bendix would not survive, but they remained hopeful and courageous. They believed as long as they resided in The Bleed, they would be safe. They were so, so wrong.

The shockwave of a massive boom tube sent the ships spiraling off course, their computers quickly re-navigating a safe route out of The Bleed. Unfortunately, they weren't designed with combat in mind, or even the existence of a hostile ship inside The Bleed. Though what emerged wasn't a ship, it wasn't even mechanical. What came out was a hand, easily the size of the very satellite Stormwatch had fled from. Its skin was nearly grey and was wrapped in dark green bandages to hide its scars.

The hand grasped for the ships, crushing those it felt in its fist. Then it began to flail wildly, hoping to destroy any that escaped from it. Seven ships remained as the hand receded, the boom tube closing behind it. Amongst one ship was Grifter's team, with their ship piloted by Zealot. It disappears as she locks onto Earth's coordinates, at an unknown time and location, leaving the other six behind.

Aboard another ship is Adrianna Tereshkova, who desperately attempted to regain control of the ship from the damaged computer. Behind her were three Stormwatch agents, locked tight in their seats. She turned back to reassure them everything would be okay, but the words never left her lips. Their ship exploded, damaging a nearby ship, stranding it in The Bleed while everyone onboard her ship was killed.

Metropolis

Brainiac tossed Wally aside as he moved back to his throne, now more interested in survival than preservation. Kara was quick to help Wally to his feet as she shouted to Brainiac, "This isn't over! You're not leaving here alive!"

"Oh, it is over, Kara Zor-El," he replied as wires and cables connected to his back and skull. "Goodbye."

The next thing the young super heroes knew they were falling through the air with no sign of Brainiac's ship anywhere. Kara gripped Wally's arm tightly as she slowed their fall before carefully descending to the ground. As soon as they were safely down Wally fell to his knees then spread his arms, hugging the street.

"Oh merciful ground, how I've missed you!" he exclaimed.

"You alright?" Kara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, just… I am NEVER flying again."

"Well, then you better get ready to run."

"Why?"

Kara pulled Wally to his feet then pointed into the air, making him wish he had never left the safety of his home. An uncountable number of parademons flew through the sky, their insectoid wings producing a humming that filled Kara's ears. They practically blacked out the sky over Metropolis West, but this would only last a few minutes. They descended to the streets and roofs, some crashing through windows, all carrying the same objective. They would kill every single person they found.

"Oh god, what are they?" Wally asked, only able to see those still in the air.

"Monsters," Kara replied in a horrified whisper as she listened to the terrified screams that were quickly silenced. "We need to stop them."

"Way ahead of you," Wally replied before running forward.

Kara watched him only for a moment, enough time for him to disappear past an alley, before flying after him. She changed her mind quickly however, and instead flew upwards. She punched the first parademon she reached with all her strength, grossly underestimating it. Its skull exploded beneath her might, staining her hand with green blood and pink brains. Though it disgusted her, she had no time to waste. She flew to the next, punching a hole in its chest before tearing another in half.

She tore through the horde with ease, dozens falling to her might. But there were so many. For everyone she killed, another civilian was shot down. Their lasers bounced off her skin harmlessly, but the same couldn't be said for the humans. Instead she changed tactics and began to rescue as many civilians as she could. Though she knew of no true safe places, the least she could do was get people off the streets and into a building. From there she trusted them to secure it.

Though Kara would never truthfully know it, thousands of lives were saved from her in those first few hours. Those she left behind made sure to barricade the doors and windows of every single room in the building. Though it wouldn't be enough to completely stop the parademons, it made them focus on the easier targets first. As time went by their fear would slip away, making them even safer. All it took was the smallest ounce of courage to infect every person in a building, ensuring they survived at least the initial invasion.

Wally ran through the streets saving every person he could, just like Kara. He was far faster than her however and was able to fight at the same time. Each parademon he passed, and there were hundreds, he would punch across the face. Each person he saved momentarily experienced the world as Wally did, as the Speedforce wrapped around them for an extremely brief time. Once he left so did the Speedforce, leaving the world virtually motionless. Minutes would pass for Wally before the parademons would feel the initial pain, their deaths coming before even a second could pass.

Some of the parademons would survive his blows, despite him striking with all he had. Their jaws would be knocked lose, some completely off, but they would survive. After realizing their victims had disappeared, they would move onto the next, only to be struck again and killed for sure by Wally. As he raced through the streets of Metropolis, he couldn't help but wonder why Barry wasn't there helping him. He could not yet grasp that the invasion was planetary, apocalyptic.

Shazam fought too, hurling lightning to the monsters threatening his home. He focused on combat unlike his fellow heroes, ripping through the horde with his speed and strength, electrocuting any who survived his blows. It wasn't long before the explosions began. He didn't understand why at first, but the horror soon set in as he realized those who survived his attacks would blow themselves up as they fell, causing massive damage to buildings. He hoped they were empty but knew better.

Gotham

Bruce Wayne was the only one who seemed fearless as the first parademon crashed into the Gotham City Convention Hall. Terrified aristocrats ran from it as the police pulled their guns, firing into the monster before it could hurt anyone. Its body fell lifelessly to the floor, green blood pooling around it. Then came the hum of thousands more, and it was obvious that even if every cop on the force was there, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Bruce brought his finger to his earpiece as he said, "Lucius. Activate the Apocalypse Protocol."

"Are you sir, mister Wayne?" Lucius asked from Wayne tower as he moved to his computer.

"I'm sure. It's here."

"Understood, I've got it handled. Be safe."

"You know me better than that."

"I know…"

As Lucius imputed a code onto a private program that existed on only two computers in the world, both located in Gotham, he hoped that it would be enough. It wouldn't. Across every single Waynetech building in the world, most of which were in Gotham, steel shutters expanded to cover every surface. Everyone inside would be safe, for a time, but there is no hiding from Apokolips.

Bruce pushed his way past Gotham nobility to reach the maintenance hall, Dick joining him moments later. "Is this it?" He asked in a mix of worry and excitement.

"It is. What we've been preparing for… but I don't think it's enough."

"Oh. That sounds bad."

"It is."

"Oh."

They reached a small broom closet and stepped inside, both looking ahead at the door as Dick closed it. Bruce put his hand to the wall, which began to glow blue as it scanned his handprint before chiming. Then the floor began to descend, leaving the shelves and tools attached to the walls as they were lowered into darkness.

A series of lights activated in a tunnel, first illuminating a set of Batman and Robin costumes, then their equipment, and lastly a Batmobile. It was beautiful enough to make Dick tear up, although he did it as more of a joke than in seriousness. He wouldn't be able to keep his light-hearted attitude for long.

The dynamic duo quickly changed into their uniforms and gathered their equipment before entering the Batmobile. As Batman flipped the various switches to start the vehicle he said, "Out there, the things we're going to face… they're not human. They're not even really alive. Don't hold back."

"This is serious, isn't it?" Robin asked.

"Yes. It is," he grimly replied.

The Batmobile burst to life and was propelled forward by its jet engine before The Batman stepped on the pedal, increasing its speed. Williams Street opened up to release the Batmobile several seconds before it would arrive, catching the attention of several parademons. A moment later they were crushed beneath the spiked wheels of the Batmobile which sped over them as though they weren't even there.

Though drawn primarily to fear, parademons were also drawn to loud noises, and especially the sounds of their own kind dying. Those not actively pursuing targets began to flock to the Batmobile, firing at it with terrible accuracy. The few odd shots that struck it simply bounced off the vehicle's armor plating, one reflected shot even killing a parademon. This only drew more to it.

The Batmobile continued through the streets of Gotham undisturbed by the growing horde, passing through every street in the city. To the parademons it seemed simply as a mad drive, prey attempting to escape from the hunters. They were too stupid to realize the Batman was leading them on, amassing as large a horde as possible. He was drawing them away from civilians, and upon being satisfied with the number, he moved to the least populated area in the city. The docks.

Though the docks were typically controlled by The Falcone family, they often warred with the various other gangs for control. Today they had called a truce, to defend their city from the alien invaders. Even with military ordinance they did little to keep the horde at bay, and their numbers were dropping at alarming rates. Then came the dark knight. Death had arrived, followed by war.

Batman drove towards the sea, making Robin briefly panicked. He only smiled as he flipped a switch then pressed a red button, which made Robin smile too as Batman stomped on the brake. As the Batmobile halted nearly in place, a series of small missiles shot up into the air, exploding upon contact with any of the hundreds of parademons. Green blood, pink and yellow organs, and a disturbing number of limbs fell over the Batmobile and docks, making the various mobsters pause to look on in beauty as their attackers flocked to their mortal enemy.

Not all of the parademons were killed in the Batman's initial attack, just as he had expected. By the time the next horde arrived the first batch had activated their self-destruct, killing their brood mates upon arrival. The Batmobile's armor was torn to shreds, the explosion resistant canopy cracking deeply while the tires were burned to a crisp. It was almost unrecognizable mere moments after the initial explosion.

The canopy creaked upon, and the Batman rose out, surrounded by the smoke of the explosions and charred parademons. He stepped down over the Batmobile, followed by Robin, who looked over the sight in awe. Neither the Falcones or Black Mask Gang opened fire on them, for on this day they were allies in the same war. A delegate from both sides went out to meet him, making sure their men knew not to open fire.

"Batman," the Falcone representative nodded.

"You need to redirect your men to the Narrows," Batman ordered.

"What!?" the Black Mask representative asked.

The Falcone member added, "In case you don't realize, neither of us control our gangs."

"I'm sure your bosses care from their private bunkers," Batman stated.

"Fair point. Why the Narrows?"

"It's the lowest income neighborhood. Over a thousand people with no real defenses. On top of that, it's also the highest in crime. It's the most fearful. That's the most dangerous place to be."

"And you want us to send our boys in there?" the Black Mask member asked.

"People need your help. You can be heroes. If you don't work together, with everyone, thousands will die today because of you. Innocent people. But you can save them."

"I'll make the call," the Falcone member said.

"Yeah, I'll help, but our boys are already spread out," the Black Mask member said. "I can only put a couple dozen guys over there, tops."

"Then do it," Batman growled as he walked past them, Robin following behind. He put his finger to his ear and said, "Alfred, are you safe?"

"Of course, master Bruce," Alfred replied from the safety of the Batcave. "I need the Bat-Boat at the docks, stat."

"Way ahead of you, sir," Alfred chimed.

"What's the status on our "godly" friend?"

"Mister Free is in a bit of a spot, sir,"

"Actually, Alfred," came Scott Free's voice. "It's Mister _Miracle_, and I'm out of it."

"Then get to the Batcave," Batman growled. "I'm gonna need all hands-on deck."

Arkham Asylum (Home for The Criminally Insane)

Scott Free, or Mister Miracle as he now preferred to be called, could escape from anything. He once joked to the woman that would literally kill him if he called his girlfriend, that he could even escape from Hell. That being said, a simple solitary confinement cell was nothing to him. He had escaped from far worse by the time he was ten, that being three and a half centuries ago.

There were many ways he could have escaped from the cell. The first being that he could simply kick the door down, it was only steel after all, and he was a New God. He could fake an injury, though the odds weren't in his favor the guard outside would actually respond. He could easily slide his hand through the grate that delivered his food and snatch the key off the guard's belt. From there it would be a small effort to insert it into the keyhole without alerting the guard, but this would be fairly easy. For Scott, anyway. It would require most humans to dislocate their shoulders.

But none of these provided a challenge for Mister Miracle. Instead he set his gaze upon the air vent, located ten feet over his head, and would only be able to fit a person about half his size. Of course Scott had to use it as his escape route. He leapt into the air, slipping his fingers through the grate before grabbing tightly. As he hung suspended in the air, he looked over the small screws sealing the air vent shut. Of course he could simply pull it out, but that wasn't fun to him. Instead Scott used his fingernail, obscured by the glove of his costume, to unscrew two screws before the grate fell open.

With a triumphant smile on his face he pulled himself up, leaving the now empty side behind. He moved his shoulders tight to his chest in order to fit inside and found it so tight he could scarcely move his arms or legs. This was no problem for him, as he began to wiggle his way upwards. The turn that led to freedom was no problem either, though a human would most likely have their back broken in the process. Scott simply had to lean into it, sliding in with ease.

The asylum was only recently opened to the public, having previously been a private establishment intended for rich families to lock away their mentally ill children. Now it was open to everyone, as long as they met a certain set of criteria. They must be criminals and either mentally ill, or so disillusioned in their beliefs that they were considered insane by a judge. That having been said, there were only three new inmates, each one of them put away by the Batman.

Victor Zsasz was the first one. A tall, thin, and pale man with a hideous smile and piercing blue eyes. He had shaved his head shortly before he was apprehending, and now it was growing back blond. Across his body were a total of thirty-two scars in the shape of tally marks, each one marking a person he had killed. He sat in his private cell away from even the staff members, bound in a strait jacket. Had he refrained from biting the ear off an orderly his first day there, he would have been treated slightly better.

Julian Day had been caught second, having been stopped from claiming his fifth victim. Julian was of average height and weight and looked fairly normal. His eyes were brown, his head bald. If you were to see him outside his orange jumpsuit, you would say he looked like a perfectly normal man. He was even nice enough to the orderlies and seemed almost sane to his psychiatrist. Then came his obsession with dates, a maddening endeavor that led to him drawing over his cell walls with calendars for the next ten years. During each session dates were mentioned he would rant endlessly, on each special day he would become erratic and violent. Then the next day he would be perfectly normal.

The final inmate was a John Doe, his finger prints melted off and DNA inconclusive. The only name he gave was The Joker. He was tall and thin, practically starved, and horrifying. His skin was unnaturally white, it looked almost like makeup. His lips were crimson red and seemed to bleed out onto his cheeks in a hideous smile that was far too wide. His eyes were beady and black, inhuman and unmoving. Extensive testing had shown that they didn't react to light, or emotion, or pain. His hair was dark green, but not through dye as his doctors first expected. It was almost naturally green, but that made no sense. Then there was the smell that accompanied him. The nauseous stench of chemicals that never left, no matter how much they scrubbed him. They made sure he was in a strait jacket at all times, for he was the most dangerous of their inmates. His body count rested at two hundred and three people, including the two orderlies he had killed so far.

Staff members ran through the halls of Arkham Asylum for various reasons. Fear ripped through the majority like a disease, as the hum of buzzing wings drowned out all sound from the outside. Orderlies made sure each cell was secure, even for their non-violent inmates. Several doctors raided the pharmacy, refusing to die unless they went out higher than those they treated.

Intern Harleen Quinzel found herself abandoned from the group of interns she had been working alongside as they moved to the basement, lost in the maze of corridors that made up the asylum. She found herself stopping in front of a seemingly sleeping inmate as she attempted to get her bearings. Unbeknownst to her the inmate was awake and crept to the bars of his door.

"Well, hello there," the Joker rasped in a high pitched yet gravelly voice.

Gotham Metro

Rory Regan found himself trapped beneath the city with two dozen other people, the doors blocked by metal shutters and the trains all stopped. Some people had ventured into the tunnels an hour before, and never returned. Half an hour ago they could hear distant screams, but they quickly died out, leaving only the silence. Two minutes ago, the sound of buzzing began to echo down the tunnel, filling the station with fear.

As the buzzing grew louder Rory crept away from the group, making sure he was unseen. Scraps of clothing began to creep out from beneath his skin, wrapping around his entire body. Once completely covered, the rags became his flesh. From his shoulders grew a dark green cloak that ended close to his ankles. He brought its hood over his head and began to wait for the evil that grew close.

He didn't need to wait long before the first parademon arrived, followed by a dozen more. Ragman was never a fighter, and preferred to stay in the shadows, but this was not the time for stealth. This was not the time for hesitation. He ran towards the parademons as the civilians ran towards the sealed shutters, forgetting they were trapped. Six had already died by the time he reached them, and he would allow no more to die.

Ragman leapt into the air and planted a fist over the skull of the lead parademon as cloth extended from his arms, binding the monster's arms to its chests. He flexed his hand, causing his fingers to become claws, before slashing its throat. His rags returned to him as the dying parademon began to glow yellow, and he quickly jumped backwards to avoid the explosion. Three other parademons were caught in the blast, leaving another to explode and take two more with it.

Before he could act again one of them landed a successful shot on his chest, the laser blast tearing through the cloth that comprised his body, leaving it scorched black. Ragman stayed standing as his upper body fell backwards. The remaining seven parademons continued past him, expecting him to be dead. After all, not many people can survive a hole through their chest. But the Ragman wasn't just a person.

As a parademon passed he twisted his body around, grabbing hold of its jaw and skull before twisting its head around backwards. The others turned to see him still not quite standing straight, as cloth began to fill the hole in his chest. Then Ragman charged forward, a vicious tornado of claws and cloth that spilled green blood across the station. He was quick enough to dodge the explosions of those he critically wounded, losing himself to the blood lust of true combat.

At last only the Ragman remained, most of the civilians at the station still alive. He was successful in defending them, or so he thought. Then came the rumble of a collapsing structure, as the ceiling caved in. Ragman was trapped beneath rubble, unable to move as more parademons descended into the metro station, searching for the fear left by those he had just saved. The Ragman had failed.

The Batcave, Wayne Manor

Alfred flicked between camera feeds, tears falling down his cheeks as he watched the horrors unfold across the city. Countless people were being senselessly killed, shot to death or torn to pieces. With each kill the parademons moved onto the next, their mission simply to kill all in their path. It seemed as though there would be no end to the destruction.

"Alfred," came Mister Miracle's voice from behind him.

Alfred turned to see the New God standing before him, having safely escaped from a facility designed to hold some of the most dangerous people in the city. "Ah, Mister Miracle…" he said as his voice broke. "Is this carnage almost over?"

"Afraid not. This is just the first wave. The chaos before the calm."

"It gets worse?"

"Yep. Now people stand a chance, parademons are tougher than a human, but they still go down fairly easy. The Furies though? They can take whatever you throw at them. It just gets worse from there."

"I still don't understand your plan to stop this. Master Bruce has… neglected to share it with me."

"That's because there is no plan."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Not a real one anyway. Survival, that's the main focus. Until the third wave anyway. That's when we can fight back. But…"

"But what, sir?"

"Batman could barely stand up to Doomsday. The weakest of the Furies are as strong as that monster, and all of them trained warriors.

"I assure you, Master Bruce will be prepared for whatever they have in store for him."

"I hope so."

The sound of a boat speeding across water filled the Batcave, alerting to them that Batman and Robin had returned. They were soon joined by the dynamic duo, with Batman dragging the corpse of a parademon behind them. It had been killed cleanly, its neck broken from a single kill.

"What's that for?" Mister Miracle asked.

"To study," Batman replied as he dropped the corpse. "Load it on the autopsy table. I'm changing."

"Changing into what, Sir?" Alfred asked.

"My war suit."


	4. Cry of The Canary

Starling Gym, Star City

Wild Dog and Wildcat fought back to back, their fists covered in blood belonging to both them and the Parademons. Each blow they landed proved fatal, but their numbers were endless. Perhaps the Parademons relished the fight, which is why they failed to use their guns. Either way the pair of crime fighters couldn't stand against the horde forever. They were only human, their movements would slow, they would make mistakes. Then they would die.

Though Wildcat was older, he made more experience. Wild Dog was young, and only had a year of experience crime fighting. He had never fought with even a metahuman, aside from Wildcat. He was the first to be injured, with a parademon claw cutting into his gut. He was quick to break its neck and throw it into the horde, but already his fate was sealed. As Wild Dog's blood spilled to the ground he continued to fight.

Wildcat had his right thigh torn open before his left shoulder was bitten into, but it barely slowed him down. He pulled the parademon from behind him over his shoulder and threw it to the ground before stomping its brains out, then punched through the skull of another parademon. It was the most alive he felt in decades.

Wild Dog managed to kill another two parademons before he fell, the undead aliens climbing over him as they tore him apart. Wild Cat let out a roar of anger as he pulled them back, ripping through them as he attempted to rescue his friend. One of them had its throat cut open, and it was this act that sealed his own fate. Ted Grant died in a fiery explosion, taking with him three dozen parademons.

Mammoth Road, Star City

The Black Canary rides atop a motorcycle, three parademons following behind her. She curses her own fearlessness, having already realized what it is that attracts them. She halts on the breaks as she reaches the plaza holding Queen Industries, finding it already under assault by an impressively sized horde.

She turns to face the parademons chasing her and lets out a scream, the frequency so high and volume so loud it sent them falling to the ground as their ears bled. Without finishing them off Black Canary continues towards her friend's building, blinded by the waves of parademons, but able to hear gunshots and shouting from beneath the drum of hundreds of wings and her own motorcycle.

As Black Canary rams through the horde she is thrown from her bike, only to land sliding on her feet, turning to face them once again. She opens her mouth and lets out her loudest scream, killing eight of them and wounding three more. The falling explosions claim twenty more parademons, followed by another dozen.

A hand grabs the Canary by the arm and pulls her up, causing her to turn with a fist only to freeze at the sight of Green Arrow. He smirks and says, "Hello, lover."

"Long time no see," she purrs before planting a kiss on his lips.

Around them are seven security guards, and nearly a thousand shell casings littered the ground. Though they started with submachine guns all, but one were onto their handguns, and even then, were almost out of ammo. The corpses of three more guards were strewn across the ground, one's chest still smoking from the laser blast that claimed his life.

Green Arrow moved past Black Canary, drawing his bow to land a perfect shot through the skull of a parademon as he said, "Speedy's bringing out the big guns. We're waiting on him."

"Big guns?" Canary asked as she claimed the handgun off the corpse of a guard.

"Some tech Palmer's been working on. Should be enough to take care of this," Just after Green Arrow finished saying this there came an explosion from the top floor of Queen Industries and he quickly growled out, "Or maybe not. Bastards must have gotten inside."

From the top floor fell a man clad in what was unmistakably a suit of power armor, landing behind the horde of parademons. The armor held red and blue highlights with a mostly unfinished grey chassis, while an atom was perfectly carved into the suit's forehead. Behind the glass visor was the familiar smile and warm brown eyes of doctor Raymond Palmer, who had just completed his life's work.

Ray raised his arms and clenched his fists, before a series of bright blue bolts of plasma shot out in automatic fire, ripping through the horde with ease. He spread his arms to the sides, taking more of the horde down as they attempted to turn and attack him, only to be taken down by bullets and arrows. His plasma fire killed them too quickly to even activate their self-destruct, and soon the area was secure.

"What was that explosion?" Green Arrow asked as he approached Ray.

"One of them broke in as I was gearing up. Your sidekick hit it in the chest, and it blew up. He got to the stairwell though, he should be fine."

"Good. Any idea what our next plan of attack is?"

"Well, unfortunately the only thing that comes to the mind is… well…"

"Ray," Black Canary said as she stepped up alongside her fiancé. "What is it?"

"It would require us getting on board_**that**_," he said, pointing to Apokolips as another horde began to descend towards them. "Shit."

"Everyone, back inside!" Green Arrow yelled as he reached for his last arrow.

Black Canary stepped forward and let out a scream, knocking most of them from the air, but still dozens more flew at them. She turned to see the guards already storming inside as Green Arrow fired his last arrow, which found its mark perfectly in the left eye socket of a parademon.

He turned to Ray and said, "Everyone means you too, Palmer!"

"I can help!" Ray cried, shooting parademons from the sky.

"Now!" he growled, pushing Ray back towards the building's entrance.

Black Canary moved forward, grabbing Ray by the arm as she pulled him inside. She threw him in, knocking him onto his butt as she entered the building herself. Speedy pushed open the stairway door just as Green Arrow entered, only to freeze in place as his eyes bulged. He then stumbled forward, collapsing into Black Canary's arms while a parademon stood over him holding the bloody arrow that had claimed its eye.

The guards were quick to mow it down as Dinah Lance held her dying lover in her arms, tears welling up. She cried, "Ollie… oh god, why you? Anyone but you…"

"It's okay, song bird," Ollie whispered as he stroked her cheek.

"I can't lose you… not you!"

"I love you… Dinah…"

"I love you too, Ollie…"

He leaned upwards for one last kiss, that Dinah returned, tasting his blood while he tasted her tears. Then he went limp, their lips still intertwined. Dinah pulled away in somber silence, and slowly rose to her feet. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Roy Harper standing with her, bearing the same loss.

She looked back outside, to where a new horde was amassing, bearing down on them. Black Canary clenched her fists and let out a cry, a scream louder than any she had ever produced. Glass shattered two miles away from the force of her scream, even those behind her fell to their knees covering their bleeding ears. The parademons stood no chance of survival, their skulls exploding into green and pink sludge from the Canary's cry.

This was not enough to sate the Black Canary, and so she continue outwards. She unleashed her cries upon all parademons she encountered, killing all of them. The Endless all had their eyes upon her on this dark hour, and for years they would talk of its beauty. The love she felt for Oliver Queen, the despair over his loss, the delirium she felt. She would cause so much destruction, take so many lives. It was this that saved Star City, though she wouldn't know this.

The Black Canary would scream until her throat was raw and bloody, until she could cry no more. Then she fell to her knees and wept, for it was all she could do. She wept for the love she had lost, for the family and friends long passed. She wept for her city, and her world. She wept for everyone. Even humanity would talk of The Black Cry for years to come, for all in Star City had heard it. As the world ended around them, one woman cried so fiercely she claimed the lives of thousands of her enemies, and saved millions of her people.

As she wept to herself a dark shadow was cast not just over her, but her entire city. She broke away from her sobs for just a moment to watch as massive thick vines surrounded her home, blocking out all light from the setting sun. The vines trapped the city in darkness, cutting it off from the entire world. Once more Dinah began to weep.

Metropolis

Two miles below Lexcorp Headquarters there is an expansive bunker only accessible through six strategically located express elevators. The bunker itself goes on for miles, as it was designed to hold thousands of people in the event of a nuclear apocalypse. Instead it holds just three hundred and sixteen people.

Lex Luthor sits at a desk watching the chaos unfold throughout his city on a laptop as he thinks of ways, he can possibly save the day. There aren't many. The best he has is an incomplete Superman clone still incubating. At that moment there was no way he could be the hero. Then came a video call from an unknown contact, when his laptop was supposed to be run on a private network.

After accepting he looked into the cold glare of Amanda Waller who said, "Hello, Lex."

"Do I know you?" Lex asked.

"No. I'd like to keep it that way, for now. Three hours ago the United Nations was attacked. The only confirmed survivor was Prince Adam of Khandaq."

"I care why?"

"As of five minutes ago, you were announced to temporarily have control of the world's military, until the end of the invasion."

"I see…"

"I'm connecting you to my mainframe, with limited access. You'll be able to send commands to the surviving generals, or whoever take their places."

"You're trusting all of this to me alone? What do you want in return?"

"Just a favor, when the time comes."

"Heh, of course. But how do you know you'll survive?"

"I'm not in the game of dying, Lex. Goodbye."

The call ended, leaving Lex viewing a new screen showing hundreds of links connecting him to the world's generals. Most of the names he saw were green, but as he looked over them two became red, before two new names appeared. He couldn't help but smile at his new-found power, before he began to save the world just like he always wanted.

Themyscira

Princess Nubia fought alongside her sisters against an endless army, their first real battle in centuries. Humanity had found the Amazonians only once in all their time on the island, entirely by mistake. Now an army of monsters hellbent on their extermination attacked with the impossible knowledge of their location.

Arrows and lasers flew through the sky, spilling Amazonian and parademon blood onto the once peaceful island. Clay sculptures fought alongside the warrior women, while the gods themselves rained lightning and fire upon the invaders. Thousands of alien bodies littered the once beautiful landscape, but thousands more came.

Nubia's back pressed against Artemis' as a horde surrounded the pair, the bodies of their sisters quickly fading from sight beneath undead feet. "Are you ready to die, sister?" Nubia asked.

"Only if you are, princess," Artemis replied as she cut the head off a parademon.

There came a burst of black lightning before them, leaving the sand beneath their feet as glass while black flames fell over the parademons, melting their armor and flesh with ease. From the center of the lightning rose a familiar and hated figure, that of the god Ares. He dressed in black spiked armor with a tattered black cape on his back and a ram horned helmet that hid everything other than his glowing red eyes. In one hand he held a massive mace, and in the other a man-sized battle axe. As he rose to his full height he towered over the impressively large Amazonians, standing at twelve feet tall.

"You will not die today, daughters of Zeus," the god said as he approached the horde, brandishing his mace.

"Even the evil gods fight on our behalf," Artemis remarked.

"Truly this is the end of days," Nubia said in a grim tone.

With a single strike from his mace a dozen parademons were thrown through the air. With a slash from his axe four were cut in half. The god was a powerful force, but against an army as massive as that of Apokolips even he had difficulty fighting them back. Were it not for his nieces fighting along side of him, even the god would have fallen.

Nubia and Artemis kept the horde back from Ares' back, but two Amazonians were not enough to keep the legions of parademons away. They fought as hard as they could but soon became overwhelmed and separated and would soon be slain by their enemies. As the parademons covered Nubia, clawing open her flesh and biting into her shoulders she made a dangerous decision.

With all her might she clapped her bracers together, sending out a shockwave that threw all off their feet. Even the mighty war god Ares was thrown back, crushing two parademons beneath his weight. As Nubia brought herself to her feet, she saw Artemis' hand sticking out from beneath a pile of parademon corpses.

She ran forward and took her sister's hand in hers, pulling her free from beneath the corpses. Artemis looked up at her beneath a blood-stained face and said, "Next time just leave me to die."

"Don't jest, Artemis," Nubia said as she looked around for a sword.

"Their numbers are lessening," Artemis replied as she stood up and looked to the skies.

"Yes. That scares me."

"Why? We're winning."

"I don't think so. I believe… this was simply reconnaissance."

"If this is reconnaissance, then even I fear what comes next."

Las Vegas

Vegas has always been home to madness incarnate, in various forms. The Apokoliptian invasion was just another madness to the city of devils. Upon their arrival the legions of parademons found themselves driven as close to insanity as was possible, their minds torn to shreds and rearranged by the various forces that exist in the city.

One of these forces is called Shade, and currently they don't feel like a man or a woman. Or even a human for that matter. Instead they are a force, a force of madness and relief. Sanity and torture. For the parademons they are only madness and torture. They rip through the parademons like a disease, rendering the invasion nearly useless at first.

But the monsters adapt. They do what they know best and kill everything that moves. At first this is just each other, but soon they learn from this. Nothing with the scent of death. Nothing green or gold. Only those that scream. Only those that feel pain. Only those that reek of fear. Shade decides to become a human again while they think of how best to deal with the situation and borrow the appearance of Janelle Monae.

They think out loud, "Perhaps I could just make themselves think they're already dead? Oh, but what if they explode? Why don't I have any friends? This is always easier with friends."

Shade doesn't have long to wait for the situation to be corrected, however. On the other side of the city rests a high-class bar called Lux. It serves rather nice drinks with quick service, and one never has to worry about annoying patrons. If you decide to spend time, there you may even have a pleasant song played on a piano. All in all it seems like a fairly normal, if a bit odd, lounge. Only those that know who owns it know its true purpose. The bar acts as a home to the literal devil himself, Lucifer.

Most are taken back when they see the devil. He has no red skin, no horns. He just looks like a fairly attractive man. Pale skinned and blond hair, more beautiful than most women. The only unusual features on him are a pair of golden eyes, which only a handful of beings can even notice. He even dresses like a normal person, in various suits he finds interesting. Tonight is a black suit with a red shirt and white tie.

When the first parademon stumbles into his home, he is displeased. It would be fine if they were just slaughtering patrons as they left, but the monster dared to set foot in his home. With a wave of his hand it crumbled to still living dust, doomed to an eternity of sentience spread out across millions of pieces. Then, to ensure he isn't annoyed by any others, he snaps his finger and the entire army within Las Vegas bursts into flames.

Shade is delighted to find they somehow saved the day, oblivious to Lucifer's involvement. They decide that they deserve a reward for their good job, and leave the city to find a nice spot in the desert to get high in. More parademons arrive shortly after, with little to stop them now. With their senses undisturbed they know to stay away from Lux, and there are no more heroes to stop them.

The Sahara Desert

Living with a pride of lions, away from the strains of human life, is Thomas Blake. He once called himself Catman and had been an aspiring super villain but was defeated by Speedy. When he realized he was beaten by a teenager with nothing more than a bow and arrow, he decided to leave the world behind and learn how to be nature's top predator. Unfortunately, he can't swim, and as such went to what he viewed as the next top predator: the majestic lion.

To say it's unusual for a human to live amongst lions is nothing. What's even more unusual is to become their leader, and the most vicious of them. He had sharpened his nails into claws and was faster than any normal human. He had incredible strength and agility, and reflexes to rival even Batman. His time amongst the lions truly had made him into the ultimate predator, excluding sharks.

His once short red hair had grown long and mangled, while pale skin had grown red and blistered before he began to paint it with the blood of his kills. His green eyes were exaggerated by the crimson blood, their already wide and mad expression served to make him look more like a monster. To all who would see him, he would appear like a savage man that had been raised by the beasts, not a rich young man who decided to live with them two years before.

The Catman's usual hunting stopped as he looked to the skies and found dozens of strange creatures flying through the air with insectoid wings. His curiosity had been great and so he decided to follow them, making sure his pride stayed behind first while he went alone. He would not risk his family to whatever those strange creatures may be.

However, Catman is not the only strange and somewhat deluded white man connecting with predators in the Sahara. As a group of poachers discover when they attempt to shoot a herd of gazelles. One by one their throats are cut by inhuman claws and their bodies silently pulled away, so the others aren't alerted.

At last only their leader remains, before he's dragged from his tent and thrown onto the yellow grass. He looks up into the remorseless eyes of Buddy Baker, Animal Man. He dresses in a yellow costume with a blue A on his chest and black shoulders, while blond hair sticks out of a black topless cowl. His eyes are crystal blue and look more like that of a snake's than a person. His fists are held tight as he stands over the poacher, filled with anger.

"You killed them," he growled.

"K-killed who!?" the man cried. "I haven't killed anyone!"

"Them!" Buddy growls, gesturing to a pair of rhino calves, their horns cut off and a bullet lodged in both their skulls.

"I, I, I!" the man stammered.

Buddy grabbed him by his collar and pulled him into the air with the strength of a bear as he said, "Don't worry. I'll make this only as painless as their deaths were."

Animal Man called upon the power of the animals around him, finding many gentle creatures. But there was one that worked. He smiled as he summoned the power of a deathstalker scorpion, a tail growing from his back. The poacher looked up in horror just a moment before the tail stabbed through his eye and injected venom straight into his brain, killing him nearly instantly.

Buddy dropped the poacher's corpse and turned away, his tail receding back into his body. He never liked gloating over death. Overhead he saw dozens of creatures flying, their nature not of Earth. He knew then that they were a threat to nature, to the animals of the desert, and he would have to stop them. With the speed of a cheetah he ran forward, chasing after the parademons.

Central City

Two Flashes, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, ran through the city streets as fast as the speed of light. They took down parademons with ease, for the creatures couldn't even react to them. They rescued every civilian they could, which was most of them. But even they couldn't save everyone. For every hundred people they saved, one would die or suffer extensive injuries. Both men believed this was an isolated incident, that they were being specifically targeted. Later they would discover that Central City was affected the least by the invasion.

When the vines began to enclose the city, both Flashes met at Star Labs. Barry said, "One of us needs to get out of here, get help!"

"You go, kid," Jay replied. "I've got things handled here."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, now go!"

Barry Allen ran, faster than he knew he could. Faster than the speed of light, faster than the universe. He moved not over the vines but through them, oblivious that they were even there. Then he was in Central City again, then beyond it. He couldn't see anything other than an ethereal blue tunnel stretching into infinity. Barry ran faster and faster, faster than time itself, pulled along by a force guiding him to some unknown place in a near-distant future.

The next thing Barry knew he was falling not through the air, but space. He let his breath out as quickly as he could, his skin already burning from the cold and body aching. Only a few seconds later a bright light washed over him, blinding him from the void. Though he couldn't see it the ship was large and black, modeled after the silhouette of a bat.

Barry closed his eyes tight to shield them from the light, and a few moments later felt hands touching his shoulders as a rope was tied around his waist. He hoped they would hurry as his lungs screamed for air but didn't have long to wait before he was pulled into the ship. He never heard the door close but felt the rumble, which was soon followed by the sound of oxygen being pumped into the room.

He gasped for breath and stumbled to his feet before looking around, his eyes landing on a sight both familiar and foreign. Standing before him was a person who was definitely Batman, but not the one he knew. The man was thin and slightly taller than his Batman and wore a completely different suit. This one was skin tight and pure black with a red symbol on his chest, while an air mask covered his mouth.

"Robin? Is that you?" he asked, grasping his head from the pain he felt.

"Dick's dead, Barry," came a vaguely familiar voice. Barry turned to see an elderly Bruce Wayne standing before him with a mechanical left leg and an omega symbol branded onto his face. "Everyone's dead."


	5. Wonders

Space Sector 2814, year: 2051

Barry stumbled back, colliding with the new Batman before backing away from him too. He said, "I don't know what's going on here, but I'm not falling for it."

"Barry, this isn't a trap," Bruce reassured.

"How the hell do you know who I am!?"

"Because I'm… because I **was** Batman."

"Right, and Oliver Queen's Green Arrow."

"Actually, he was."

"Was?"

"I told you. Everyone you knew is dead. Well… almost everyone."

Barry recomposed himself and said, "Say I believe you… whose left?"

"Us. Supergirl, Flash,"

"**I'm** the Flash!"

"Walter West. Even those of us still alive though…"

"What?"

"Darkseid didn't just beat us. He enslaved those of us left, making us his slaves. Some of us were training practice for his warriors, others fueled that evil planet… some of us joined him."

Barry's eyes went wide as he realized what Bruce meant before asking, "Who?"

"Supergirl. Bane. A handful of others, most of them after you…"

"After I what? Say it."

"After you died."

"How?"

"Barry, this isn't the first time we've had this conversation. Well, it **is** but… Every time we lose, you give me a flash drive. It has all the data we collected, and we update it every iteration. But we never win. Never."

"How many times, Bruce?"

"This will be the forty-sixth attempt."

"This will be the last attempt. I'm putting an end to all of this."

"I doubt that… Apokolips is just too powerful…"

"What the hell is wrong with you!? Where's the Batman I once knew!?"

"Gone, along with our planet."

"Our… planet?"

"That's where we picked you up."

"But… there was nothing there."

"Exactly. I told you, he won."

"What about you?" Barry asked, turning to the new Batman. "You have the same attitude as this old bat?"

"He's right though," Batman replied. "I was born on Apokolips. I grew up seeing just what Darkseid is capable of. Even now, we have no chance of beating him. At most… forget it."

"No. Go on, tell me."

"At most, we would be able to launch a suicide mission. Help some people escape, at the cost of our own lives. Not even a lot, either."

Bruce said, "I have the flash drive, Barry. You can still go home, have a chance at saving the day… before we do this again."

"It ends this time, Bruce," Barry replied.

"That's all I can hope for."

Bruce reached into his pocket and removed a small flash drive with a Waynetech logo before handing it to Barry who asked, "What should I do with it, when I get back?"

"Give it to me. Tell me what happened… I won't believe you, not for a while, but it won't matter. Don't lose this, no matter what. If you do, everything really is over."

"Alright… now how do I get back?"

"I built a… device, to help you get back."

"I call it the Cosmic Treadmill," Terry chimed.

"A simple but accurate title. With it you can run in place, across both time and space. Anywhere in the universe, at any time. All you have to do is run."

Gotham City, 2012

Mister Terrific was followed by three T-spheres, a handgun clasped tightly in his hand as he hurried down the halls of his building, trapped in his own home. He could hear the parademons through the walls, searching each room for signs of life. There was just him and three others in the entire building, but he would be damned if he let a single person die on his watch.

He reached the door he was looking for and attempted to kick it open, only for it to hold tight. "It's me, damn it!" he growled as he looked down the hall towards the growing sound of wings buzzing.

"Shit, sorry Terrific!" came Plastic Man's voice before the sound of latex being pulled back.

Mister Terrific pushed open the door and stepped inside just as the first parademon entered into sight, shutting it behind him before his T-spheres set to work sealing it with lasers. He looked back to see Plastic Man and Metamorpho standing shoulder to shoulder, looks of concern on their face. Behind them on an observation table slept Linnya Wazzo.

"What's happening out there, T?" Metamorpho asked.

"Bugs. Big ones," Mister Terrific replied as he moved towards a computer. "Any word from Wayne?"

"No, the internet's down."

"Shit. We're sitting ducks in here… alright, I have a plan. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a risk."

"We're up for anything," Plastic Man said.

"We fight our way out."

"Anything but that."

"Metamorpho, if you change your body to a titanium form you should be strong enough to defeat any bugs without taking damage. Plastic Man, you're immune to lasers and physical damage, so you go first to draw them away from us."

"Alright, but I won't like it!"

"Just go!"

Plastic Man growled then stretched upwards, passing through a ceiling great into the ventilation system. Once it was clear he was gone Metamorpho asked, "Is he really immune to lasers?"

"No," Mister Terrific replied. "But they won't kill him either."

"So, what's the real plan?"

"I already told you."

"Oh. This is gonna hurt, isn't it?" he asked as he changed his body's composition entirely to titanium.

"Yes. It will."

Mister Terrific moved past Metamorpho and reached into his pocket, removing a computer chip. He looked around the room before grabbing a scalpel from a stand next to Linnya. He wouldn't have long before she phased out and took his chance. He cut her forearm open with a single precise movement, before slipping the chip inside.

"Let's hope this works," he whispered to himself.

Outside they heard laser fire followed by Plastic Man yelling in pain, far closer than they would have liked. "We don't have long," Metamorpho said.

Linnya opened her eyes and let out her first words in years. "Holy shit that hurts!"

"Are you alright?" Mister Terrific asked, looking over his shoulder as a parademon began to throw itself against the door.

"Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?" Linnya asked, pushing herself away from him.

"My name is Michael. There was an accident, awhile ago. You've been sick, until now."

"Don't forget there's an alien invasion!" Metamorpho shouted.

Linnya said, "No, this isn't right… where am I?"

"My lab, in Gotham," Mister Terrific replied.

"Gotham? I… what year is it?"

"2012."

Linnya gasped before saying, "That's it!? It's been… decades! I don't understand this!"

"Boss, they're gonna get in soon," Metamorpho said as the door began to give way.

Mister Terrific said, "Linnya, I don't know what's happening right now, but we're going to have to move. Stay behind us, okay?"

"Alright."

"Good. Rex, kick the door down."

"With pleasure," Metamorpho purred before kicking the door at full force.

The Batcave

Batman Robin returned to the Batcave on board the Batboat, Mister Miracle and Alfred already waiting for them. as they stepped off the boat Alfred said, "Your suit is waiting for you. Are you… sure about this, Master Bruce?"

"No. But there's no other choice, Alfred," Batman replied as he approached a sealed tank. "Miracle, how long do we have?"

Mister Miracle replied, "Minutes. An hour at most, before the second phase starts. The Furies will be here within two."

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. What about you?"

"Yes."

"Fair enough."

Batman opened the tank, letting lose a spray of vapor. Inside rested his war suit, the greatest weapon he had built. Armor thicker than the suit he designed to fight Superman, with a greater punch. Built into the arms were blades, claws, and tasers, along with a flamethrower in the left arm and a cannon in the right. In the suit's feet, as well as back legs and arms, were propulsion jets that would allow it flight or accelerated attacks. Every part of it was covered, even the mouth, protecting his entire body for once. The suit was powered by a miniature nuclear core developed by doctor Martin Stein.

Batman told them, "Get ready for war."

Outside the city hordes of parademons attacked the vines protecting their victims, shooting, clawing, and biting their way through. Many were impaled upon the massive thorns, leaving them to explode. Steadily they began to get closer to destroying the defenses as the parademons inside began to retreat. Instead of attacking each took a corpse, flying upwards as they waited for an escape route to become available. Across the world this process was repeated, millions of parademons killing themselves to free their brood spawn.

The Sahara Desert

Thomas Blake couldn't believe what he was seeing. A factory had been constructed amidst the remains of a village, its buildings still burning but residents ominously missing. It was like no factory he had ever seen, its form alien and twisted. Tall sharp spires rose into the air, exuding black smoke that made his eyes and lungs burn. He could see the occasional parademon fly out from the factory, and occasionally some would come back carrying lifeless bodies.

He began to move forward when a voice told him, "Hold up."

He turned back to see Buddy Baker silently creeping towards him. "Who are you?" Thomas asked.

"Name's Animal Man. You?"

"Catman."

"Oh. Great name."

"What is… that?" he asked, pointing towards the factory.

"I don't know, but it's polluting everything here. Then the people…"

"They're dead when they get here."

"Right, but why?"

"I'm going," Catman said as turned and began to walk towards the factory at full height.

"They'll spot you!" Animal Man hissed.

"Then let them come."

Animal Man's words rang true, for an inhuman screech quickly filled the air. A single parademon flew towards him with its claws pulled back, only for Catman to force his own claws through its skull. Without slowing down he ripped his claws out and flicked the blood from them, his eyes still on the factory.

Animal Man cursed before following after him as more parademons began to rise from the factory, flying towards them. He summoned the power of a lion, his teeth and nails growing sharp while his muscles became stronger, before fighting alongside Catman. Together they slashed and clawed their way through the monsters, narrowly avoiding several explosions while remaining uninjured as they fought.

Together they cut down every parademon that came at them, but more and more continued to exit the factory. "We're not getting anywhere!" Animal Man cried.

"Then run!" Catman growled before plowing his way through the horde towards the factory.

He certainly wasn't expecting to be outpaced by Animal Man but outpaced by the stranger now sprouting a pair of golden wings was the last thing Catman expected to see. it did inspire him to run faster however, and together they reached the factory's entrance at roughly the same time. Though both men knew what they would find would be grim, neither were expecting it to be as horrific as what they found.

Human bodies hung from meat hooks, many of them still bleeding, as they were transported throughout the factory. Some were even still alive, as somewhere pained voices prayed and cried out in a language they didn't understand. Bodies were first lowered into vats of dark green chemicals that released a nauseous and burning odor before being lifted out to reveal their wounds had been closed. Then their eyes opened, glowing yellow. They would then be pressed against tables with restraints that latched across their arms and legs, before spreading them open. Four needles simultaneously pressed into each of their limbs, injecting them with a dark yellow fluid that caused the reanimated corpses to writhe wildly before seizing up. Their muscles suddenly increased in mass at an alarming rate, and their height would increase so that all were seven feet tall. From their the tables would fall away, leaving them restrained in place, as their golden armor was placed over their bodies by mechanical arms. Each piece was drilled into them, before the suit was sealed tight by blowtorches. At last they were released, the transformation into a parademon complete. The bodies too damaged, missing limbs or large portions of their structure would be tossed into vats of orange chemicals that released dark grey smoke, which mixed with the green smoke to become black.

As Catman and Animal Man watched the horrifying process, they knew that at all costs they would have to destroy the factory. Unfortunately, the destruction of a single war factory would do little to sway the outcome of the invasion. Across the world were thousands of war factories just like the one they found themselves in, most of them even bigger. Millions of bodies filled them, producing the endless masses of parademons.

Metropolis

Kara could barely fight anymore, too tired from the battle that had started hours before, with no sunlight to fuel her. Wally wasn't much better, starving as he took down parademon after parademon. Shazam was better off than any of them, but it was up to him to face the largest of hordes. Steadily the parademons began to overwhelm them, forcing the heroes together in front of city hall, making them easy prey.

"I can't… keep going…" Wally panted.

"Me either," Kara replied before she let out a blast of heat vision that killed only six of their enemies. "You got any tricks, kid?"

"Just one," Shazam replied as he put his fist through a parademon's chest. "But it only buys us a few minutes."

"Then do it!" Kara shouted, a parademon forcing her to the ground as it tackled her.

He took a deep breath then shouted, "SHAZAM!"

Waves of blue lightning descended from the sky, striking every parademon around them. Their bodies were reduced to charred husks while the heroes remained uninjured, if drained. Shazam was reduced to the form of Billy Batson, leaving him defenseless as a new horde approached on the horizon.

"Guys, we got trouble!" he shouted.

"I have this, boy," came the strong voice of a woman from behind them.

Wally and Billy looked behind them in awe while Kara struggled to her feet, before a firm hand easily pulled her to her feet. Kara looked up and gasped at the sight of Wonder Woman, dressed in red and blue spandex that was covered by golden armor. On her back rested a cape made from an American Flag, while at her side hung the Lasso of Truth. She was truly a breathtaking sight.

"You kids take a rest. It's time for mommy to show these brats a lesson," she said before clasping her bracers together.

The shockwave was powerful enough to pull the parademons from the sky, dropping their bodies to the concrete below. Many of them died, leaving more injured only to explode moments later. Those who survived found themselves facing down Wonder Woman, who proved more than a worthy opponent. She tore her way through their ranks with ease, snapping necks and tearing off arms in quick succession.

At last only she remained, surrounded by the corpses of her enemies. She turned to face the young heroes and with a smile said, "You kids did good work. But there's more out there. You better be ready soon."

Central City Police Department

The horde of parademons that assaulted the police department was massive, so great that their writhing bodies were enough to cover most of the three-story building. Officers dressed in riot gear fought back with assault rifles which only served to keep the parademons at bay rather than thin their ranks. It was only a matter of time until the parademons overwhelmed them and entered the compound.

Joe West stepped out of the armory dressed in riot gear just like his comrades on the roof, armed with a shotgun now that all the assault rifles were gone. He passed by dozens of officers and civilians who stood by the boarded-up windows in fear, clutching various firearms as they waited for the inevitable.

He made it to the roof just in time to see an officer pulled away by a parademon that raised him high into the air before dropping him to the ground hundreds of feet below. Joe moved his eyes back to the monsters crawling up the side of the building and began to shoot at them, not doing much more than minimal damage to their numbers. In moments they were climbing onto the roof, forcing officers back as they moved closer, their entire bodies now visible.

A panicked officer fired into one of their chests, leaving it severely injured. He had little time to curse before it exploded, taking him and another with it along with a decent portion of the roof. Joe and several others fell to the third floor while the remaining officers above them were swarmed, unable to fight back for long.

Then there came the sound of an explosion not like that of the parademons, or the boom tubes, but something foreign and high pitched, ending with an oddly simple pop. Joe looked up as dry wall fell onto him, as yellow lightning descended through the air, landing somewhere else in the city. A parademon stepped over him and brandished its claws as it snarled, before stabbing down.

Suddenly the parademon was dead, its skull obliterated, while the Flash stood over him. "Hiya, Joe," he said.

"B-barry?" he asked.

"The one and only."

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Future. Long story. I've gotta go, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. These things are everywhere!"

"I know. I have to leave the city, you're going to be on your own."

"We've been holding out this long…"

"I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise, Joe."

"Just go save the world, Barry."

With that the Flash ran forward, running up the wall of the police station then down its side. He made sure to attack every parademon he could find before leaving, killing each one to save his home before he left. By the time he left Central City there were only a few dozen parademons left. He had succeeded in saving his home, in only a few minutes. But now he had the whole world on his shoulders.

The Batcave

As Batman prepared to dawn his war suit, he froze in place. "Someone's in here," he said.

"What? How can you tell?" Mister Miracle asked.

"It's too hot."

"What? You can tell that?"

Batman moved past him, drawing three Batarangs before throwing them behind the giant penny. There came the sound of metal clashing with metal before the intruder stepped out, revealing himself as Azrael, his sword drawn. The vigilante walked towards them before pulling himself into a battle stance ten feet away.

He said, "Batman. The Order of Saint Dumas sentences you to death for your crimes against God."

"I don't have time for this," Batman growled as he stepped forward.

Azrael charged forward, swing at Batman only for him to dodge out of the way and kick Azrael in the back. He was unphased by this and spun around with another slash of his sword, just barely managing to cut open Batman's chest as he jumped backwards. Azrael then attempted to stab forward, only for Batman to hit the sword with the blades on his forearm, parrying it. Azrael's eyes went wide as he was left exposed, and Batman used this opportunity to deliver a punch to the side of his head at the same time as he kneed him in the gut.

The attacker fell to the ground with the Batman standing over him, already attempting to recover. Batman wasn't one to let his enemy recover, and quickly delivered a punch to the back of Azrael's head, knocking him unconscious. He turned away and began to walk towards the war suit, pulling his cowl off.

As he dropped his cowl to the ground he said, "Put him in a holding cell. We don't need any more interruptions."


	6. The Second Wave

Coast City

Jay Garrick knew, from the first day he got his powers, that they would be the death of him. He knew they would draw out opponents from all over the world, some who just wanted to fight or compete with him, but others who wanted to kill them. He fully believed that one day he would meet an opponent that would put him in the grave.

As war broke out across Europe in the 1930's, though still young, Jay knew he would have to fight. As the Nazi war machine grew more powerful, he believed that it would be what killed him. But he made it through, with the Justice Society of America standing over the destroyed rubble of the last Nazi fortress.

With the rise of metahumans in the 80's, he believed one would be destined to finally kill him. In all cases, he was wrong. Never would Jay have believed it would be his own powers that killed him. But as he ran, for hours and hours, his heart beat faster and faster. He was never as fast as Barry was at their first meeting, but still he pushed himself as far as he could go, to save every life that he could.

Jay fell mid run, sliding across the road and tearing his face halfway off before he came to a stop. There were no theatrics as several parademons approached him. There was no last fight. Instead, his heart simply gave out, leaving him dead in the street. One of the parademons took hold of his arms and began to fly away with his corpse in tow, delivering it to the nearest war factory for conversion.

As the parademon flew a bolt of green light cut through its skull from above, causing its kin to search for the attacker as its and Jay's bodies fell to the ground. There came the sound of automatic gunfire as dozens of bolts of green light tore through the parademons' bodies. Only once they were dead did their attacker reveal himself, paying respect to Jay's body.

Hal Jordan stood 6'2 and was the pinnacle of health, though not particularly muscular. His brown hair was perfectly combed, despite flying through not just the air but space itself. His brown eyes were hidden by the white of his otherwise green domino mask, while his costume was green and black with white gloves and boots. On his chest was a black lantern sigil surrounded by a white background. Resting on his right ring finger was the source of all his powers, the ring of the Green Lantern Corps.

Hal had just returned from the planet of Oa, having just finished a separate war. The Yellow Lantern Corps was powerful and preyed upon fear much like the forces of Apokolips, but mere moments on his home planet made Hal realize this was completely different. The Yellow lanterns had wanted power, but there was no pursuit of power here. No desire, other than the darkest. The desire to kill everything that lived.

Compound X

Explosions shook the underground facility, leading to the agitation of most of the hundreds of inmates. Amanda Waller walked through the facility with a tablet in hand, accompanied by two soldiers who held their assault rifles in front of their chests. To their right was a railing that protected them from falling hundreds of feet to the floor below, though the explosions made it a struggle to keep from falling over. On their left were isolation cells that kept their prisoners alone in blank white rooms, which drove many mad.

Amanda raised her tablet as she came to the first cell and slid her finger across the screen to open the door. Inside stood Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke, his hands clasped together by thick steel binds while he was dressed in an orange jumpsuit. He had been waiting for her the moment the explosions first started, though he had no idea what their source was.

"Amanda," Slade said with a smile. "You could have just kept me on retainer."

"I don't have time to talk, Slade," Amanda replied. "Walk with me."

Together they went to each cell, retrieving each prisoner who would be part of her Suicide Squad. Next was Floyd Lawton, AKA Deadshot. Following him was Crystal Frost, AKA Killer Frost. Then there was David Hyde, AKA Black Manta, and the man simply known as Bane. The last member of the squad was one none of the other members had seen before. His name was Orion.

Orion was just over six feet tall with blond hair falling over his blue eyes. He was muscular and broad shouldered but wasn't particularly intimidating. In fact, he didn't look like much of a villain at all. The other members of the Suicide Squad were hardened killers, but Orion seemed if anything to be a superhero.

As Amanda led them to the armory she said, "Twenty hours ago the Earth was attacked by an alien planet, known as Apokolips. So far, they have killed an estimated nine hundred thousand million people, including most of the world's leaders. You're being sent to their planet in order to sabotage the core and destroy it."

"How the hell are we supposed to get to an alien planet?" Crystal asked.

"We confiscated an item from Orion here that allows the use of near instantaneous travel between planets, amidst other things. This will be your ticket there and back. Without it, you die on Apokolips."

"Apocalypse?" Floyd asked.

"That's the name of their planet."

"Edgy."

"Manta, you're being given a thermo-nuclear warhead. Only activate it once you're in the planet's core, and you'll all have fifteen minutes to regroup and escape before it goes off."

"What's pretty boy doing here?" Slade asked.

"Orion will be your guide. The rest of you, like it are not, are just meat shields. The planet doesn't have a magma core like ours, instead its most similar to a nuclear reactor. Only Black Manta will survive the radiation."

"Sounds typical. Let's go," Floyd said.

"Not yet, Deadshot. The primary threat you'll face are called parademons, which possess super human strength and flight. Only killing shots work on them, or else they self-destruct."

"Is that what all that fucking noise is?" Crystal asked.

"Afraid so. Secondary threats are called New Gods, each of which had Superman level strength. Only Bane, Manta, and Deathstroke stand a chance against them. their leader is called Darkseid and should be located in the giant palace of doom. Avoid at all cost, or you won't be coming home. Understood?"

There was a chorus of "Yes ma'ams," before Amanda continued.

"One more thing: If you're not here after the bomb blows, or six hours pass, your heads will pop. So, you better hurry."

Russia

Grifter woke amidst the rubble of the crashed ship, a red light cast over him while a quiet alarm rang in his ears. Half the ship had been torn in half on impact, leaving the corpse of a member too disfigured to recognize. He pulled himself from the wreckage, bruised and battered, but otherwise uninjured.

Once outside he could see the occasional parademon flying overhead, carrying dead humans in their arms. He looked around, for any sign of the other half of the ship and found none. There was simply a long field with the occasional tree sticking out of it. With a sigh Grifter pulled his mask over his face and made sure his handguns were still strapped to his chest before setting out in search of the rest of his team.

The Batcave, Gotham

Robin sat in a chair in front of a holding cell where Azrael stood motionless, staring into the boy wonder's eyes with hatred and scorn. Across the cave Alfred sat at the Batcomputer, watching the feed of Batman and Mister Miracle's fight against the parademons. Both were surprised when there was suddenly a rush of wind that blew from the entire cave, along with a red blur.

The Flash was suddenly standing behind Alfred and before the man could react, he asked, "Where's Batman!?"

Alfred jumped with fright as Robin hurried towards him, before recomposing himself and said, "Near Wayne Tower. If I may, how did you know where this place was?"

"No time," Flash replied as he handed Alfred the flash drive old Bruce had given him. "Make sure Bruce sees this. It's the key to winning, to saving the planet."

Then he was gone, leaving Robin and Alfred alone. After a few moments of silence Robin remarked, "What the hell was that?"

Gotham City

The war suit was handling better than Batman had expected, allowing him to tear through the parademon hordes with ease. Had the situation been different, he would have been terrified to know he had built such a weapon of destruction. As it was, he had no time for fear, only for fury. Their numbers were less than before but still thousands of parademons attacked his city, killed his people. He wouldn't rest until all were dead.

Mister Miracle fought beside him, deceptively strong for someone so slender. Batman had spent a year training him, and even he was surprised by just how strong Scott Free truly was. Without holding back his strength rivaled the war suit, and he was a berserker on the battlefield. Parademon blood covered his red and yellow suit as he put his fists through chests and tore bodies in half, taking whatever weapons he could find to shoot or stab his enemies before returning to hand to hand combat once they broke or ran out of ammo.

"Master Bruce," came Alfred's voice. "The Flash was just here."

"What did he want?" Batman growled as he brought his fists down onto a parademon, crushing it beneath his might.

"He left me, you, a flash drive. He said it was the key to stopping the invasion.

"I'm on my way."

As Batman finished cutting the head off a parademon with his arm blades he pressed a button on his forearm and stepped back to watch the events unfold. Mister Miracle barely had time to dive out of the way as a new Batmobile plowed through the horde, crushing parademons beneath its wheels. It came to a stop before Batman and opened its canopy, as though it had a skilled driver inside.

"Nice car," Mister Miracle said as he approached it. "What's going on?"

"I'm needed at the Batcave. I think you should come too."

"Did they get in?"

"No, but somebody else did."

Though the Batman and Mister Miracle were at the center of Gotham's resistance, they weren't alone in the fighting. True to their word, the Falcone and Black Mask gangs defended The Narrows as though it was their own home. For the first time in over two decades the various race gangs that occupied the neighborhood joined together as one to help in the fight, along with a few odd metahumans that lived there in secret. The GCPD, though their numbers were stretched thin, for once defended the city they claimed to protect. Detectives Jim Gordan and Harvey Bullock fought back to back, even as cops died around them and the parademons made their way into the police headquarters.

Kate Kane stood in front of her neighbor's door, drenched in parademon blood while her shoulder and hip bled heavily. Dozens of bullet casings littered the ground along with six parademon corpses. In her right hand she clenched an automatic pistol, while in her left was a combat knife stained green. She could here more downstairs, going door to door and killing everyone they found while others moved up the stairway.

Martian Manhunter flew through the air, passing through parademon bodies before rematerializing halfway through them, killing them instantaneously. He flew towards Hold Industries as a crowd of parademons covered it, many spilling inside to attack its inhabitants. Upon arriving he was surprised to find that they didn't need saving, as the terrific group battled their way outside.

Plastic Man wrapped around parademons throats, breaking their necks, while Metamorpho stabbed through them with his left hand in the shape of a blade, while he crushed more with his right hand as a giant hammer. Mister Terrific himself held Linnya's hand as he shot parademons, before dropping the gun once it ran out of ammo and began to beat them back single handedly.

Still, the Martian Manhunter gave his assistance, beating them down and rematerializing in the middle of their bodies. The parademons that attempted to shoot them from overhead found their guns pulled from their hands before being turned on them from the Manhunter's telekinetic power. He was a powerful foe, who resisted their attacks without even much pain.

Metropolis

Lex Luthor was always a serious man, one who never slacked on work. When it came to saving the world, there was no greater priority. He sat in place for hours, not stopping to eat or drink and instead had his employees feed him as he issued orders to the world's generals. Moscow, New York, Shanghai, Toronto, Tokyo, Bangladesh, London, and Cairo held the most troops, and as such were facing relatively minimal casualties compared to other major cities. He knew his own city may be destroyed if the super heroes above couldn't keep the hordes at back, but for once in his life chose to trust them.

Once more Amanda Waller's face appeared on his screen, the sound of explosions distant in her feed. "Hello, Lex," she said.

"What do you want?" he asked, agitated that she was distracting him.

"I've sent a squad to the enemy's planet with the goal of destroying it."

This intrigued Lex, making him smile with the thought of victory, before he realized such a feat was nearly impossible. "They're all going to die," he told her.

"Probably. I give them a 67% chance of achieving their goal though."

"Why are you bothering telling me?"

"Because I want you be their distraction."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Fire three nuclear missiles at the coordinates I'm plugging into your terminal from Fort Independence's stockpile. It won't do much damage, but it will provide a sufficient smoke screen."

"Understood."

For a moment Amanda looked forlorn before she said, "Thank you, Lex," then her feed cut out, leaving only a set of negative coordinates.

The Sahara Desert

Animal Man pulled Catman from the burning carcass of the war factory, his left arm hanging limp by his side. Catman suffered a deep cut across the bottom of his belly, spilling his intestines into his hands. It took effort for him to stay awake, and even more effort just to keep his arms up to prevent his organs from falling to the ground.

"Just let me go…" Catman moaned. "I'm done for…"

"Shut up! I'm not leaving you to die!" Animal Man growled, oblivious to a parademon creeping up behind him.

"I had a good run… I saved the day…"

"I said to shut up!"

"Guess I get to die… a hero…"

"You ARE a hero, but you're not dying!"

The parademon pulled its claws back as it prepared to dig into Animal Man's back, only for it to be struck from behind by a fist carrying the strength and momentum of a charging rhino. The parademon flew past the animalistic duo and into the flaming factory, letting out one last pained scream before it exploded. Animal Man made sure Catman was held tight as he turned to see the Zambesian superhero Vixen standing before him.

She was only 5'9 and wasn't at all muscular. In fact, she was somewhat underweight. Despite this she had an aura of strength, taking the form of a rhino around her before it disappeared. Her skin was dark black, her hair curly and deep black. Her eyes were a soft brown, though it was surprising just how intimidating they could look. She dressed in orange and yellow clothes, nothing particularly special, while hanging from her neck was a stone amulet with several crocodile teeth surrounding it.

"I know what you're going to say," Animal Man said. "And technically, I'm not in your territory anymore. In fact, I'm quite far away. You don't own ALL of Africa."

Vixen sighed and said, "Shut up, white boy," as she approached Catman. "The Red sent me to help you, and your friend."

"He's connected to The Red?"

"No, but it respects him. More than most humans, outside of its champions of course."

"Can you help him?"

"I can. Lay him on the ground, and fetch something for him to bite." Once Animal Man had placed Catman gently on his back and left Vixen asked, "Can you understand me?"

"Yes, pretty lady," Catman said as he stared just left of her.

"Good. Now brace yourself, because this is going to hurt like a bitch."

The Batcave

Batman and Mister Miracle approached Alfred, who stared into the Batcomputer as he went through the flash drive's data. "What's on it?" Batman asked.

"Everything," Alfred replied. "Their weaknesses, battle strategies, Master Bruce this is everything we need."

"I need specifics."

"The New Gods, all of them, are weak to a substance called Radion."

"Radion?" Batman asked Mister Miracle.

"No idea," Mister Miracle replied.

Alfred continued, "Furthermore they are oddly weak to bullets of all things."

"Piercing," Mister Miracle corrected.

"That makes no sense, Batman said."

"Sure it does. Bullets are uh, narrow. They pass through skin easier."

"That's not how that works. At all."

Alfred cleared his throat and said, "There's also a strategy on here to defeat their leader that's… very specific."

"What is it?" Batman asked.

"First, it requires both you and Master Free to leave for Metropolis before the hour is over."

"What happens next?"

"The Furies arrive, sir. As does… hope."

The Fortress of Solitude, Antarctica

Kelex slowly walked towards a human sized tank, which was his full speed. After looking over it a few minutes the robot presses a button on the tank's side, opening it and spilling light blue fluid to the floor. The tank's inhabitant begins to choke on their air being pumped down his throat, before he pulls the air mask off and falls to the ground.

The robot chirps in happiness as I extends a hand to help its master to his feet, taking his black hand in its gold claw. Before it stands Kal-El, Clark Kent, Superman, completely naked and still bearing the scars of Doomsday. Kelex looks up into his deep brown eyes as he feels the scars running over his chest, and sadness sets into its mechanical brain.

"You were killed, master," it told him.

"But I'm… back…" Clark remarked.

"Yes, it required an entire year in the healing pod, but your body should be back to nearly peak condition. With the added benefit that once fully recovered, you will be even stronger than before."

"Huh. Neat."

"Would you like to step outside for some fresh air? The sunlight is very important for you, master."

"Yeah, I think I would. Please, call me Clark."

The pair slowly made their way out to the artic waste, the icy wind doing little to actually make Clark cold. The sunlight actually made him warm, and though he couldn't feel it made him stronger. As he stood out in the open, his senses still returning to their usual states of focus, he found himself hearing sounds thousands of miles away, partially carried by the wind. Sounds of screams, of crying, of death. Sound of war.

"I have to go," Clark told Kelex.

"But you are not fully recovered," Kelex beeped.

"I can hear them. They need me," he said.

"I see. I have a suit for you, then. It will help harness the sun's rays. Make you recover quicker. Hopefully it will be enough."

"It will. Thank you, Kelex."

"I am just doing my duty, Clark."

Superman gave one last look to the sun, then followed Kelex back into The Fortress of Solitude.


	7. Apokolips

Apoklolips

There were hundreds of Furies, each a New God capable of immense destruction. For Earth's invasion however, there were only six. Leading them was Big Barda, the greatest of the Furies, and Granny Goodness' greatest accomplishment, though she would never tell Barda that. Following her are Wunda, Gilotina, Knockout, Artemiz, and Bloody Mary. Each one is a deadly warrior with hundreds, if not thousands, of kills at their hands. It took great strength and skill to earn their respect, which Barda did with one hand tied behind her back, when she killed the Dominator queen.

Big Barda stands at seven feet tall and is more muscular than most men can ever dream of being. Her hair is large and black, though greasy and matted. Her eyes though cold blue burn with rage. Barda dresses in a blue scaled armor with gold plating and black iron clasps. On her back she wears a crimson red cape, while on her head rests a black helmet that resembles her hair with a golden crown covering her forehead. She's armed with an Apokoliptian Maul, a man-sized steel hammer that many have met their ends at.

Wunda is much shorter, standing at 5'9, and is fairly lean compared to Barda. However, she is still far stronger than any human. Her skin is a light black while her hair is darker and cleaner than Barda's. Unlike Barda she dressed in red leather and wore no helmet. Her weapon was simple, a great sword that she carried over her shoulder.

Gilotina stood at 5'9 as well, and her body was shaped similarly to Wunda. Her skin was a light brown while her hair was a dark blond. Her hair was long and uneven, falling over her brown eyes. She dressed in a dirty white dress stained with dirt, blood, and ash. On her back she carried a set of twin blades, each one sharpened to perfection.

Knockout was 6'2 and proportionally almost as muscular as Barda. She had pale white skin littered with freckles and large bright red hair that fell over her shoulders. She dressed in dark green scale armor with a crown over her forehead. She held a sword in her right hand and a shield with an omega symbol in her left.

Artemiz stood an inch taller than Knockout, though she wasn't nearly as muscular. Her skin was a tanned white, and her eyes were brown. She held her black hair back with a dark green bandanna, so it didn't fall in her eyes. She dressed in a simple brown shirt over steel-weaved armor. She carried with her a bow and a quiver filled with arrows, which in her hands were deadlier than any simple firearm.

Bloody Mary was 5'8 and the most different from her allies. Her skin was almost sickly white, while her eyes were crimson red. Red hair fell over her shoulders and onto a red cloak that hid a red corset and stockings. Her hands and feet fit into red gloves and boots, while her lips were painted red from blood. She was never one for direct combat, and instead preferred the useful skill of seduction.

As the Furies finished preparing themselves Barda said, "Come sisters. It's time for war," then raised a black device.

It was small and relatively thin, much like a large TV remote. However it was covered in buttons that didn't correlate to any numbers or inputs. This was an Apokoliptian Mother Box. Barda pressed several buttons and a small boom tube opened before them, leading to Earth. They stepped through one at a time, Barda taking the lead, before the boom tube closed behind them. Had they waited only a few seconds more, they would have stopped the Suicide Squad's mission before it could even truly begin.

Savage Manor, France

As the Furies stepped foot on Earth, they arrived in an impressive mansion inexplicitly safe from the parademon hordes attacking everywhere else in the world. A number of humans were already waiting for them, most of them were faceless guards, dressed in black fatigues with assault rifles drawn. Standing at the end of the hall however were two very important people. The first was currently called Vandal Savage, the man who would sell his own planet. The second was Scandal Savage, his daughter and assassin.

Vandal stood at only 5'10 although he was fairly muscular. However, he felt no need to show this, and instead covered himself in a dark blue suit. His skin was light brown, as were his eyes, while his hair was long and black. He looked over the Furies with a look of disappointment, having expected gods to be far more impressive.

Scandal was just half an inch shorter than her father and was impressively muscular for a fairly lean frame. Her skin was dark brown and held several tattoos hidden by her sleeves. Her eyes were a dark brown as well, while her hair was a much lighter shade of brown. She dressed in a black shirt and jeans, while on both arms she wore a set of wrist blades.

"Welcome to my home," Vandal greeted, "Children of Apokolips."

"Make it quick," Barda growled, approaching him.

"In return, we have safe passage to your planet?"

"That's the deal."

As the pair talked Knockout found her eyes drawn to Scandal, who glared back at her. So the New God blew a kiss, causing the human to look away in surprise while Vandal delivered the vital information. "Their leader is in Metropolis, or rather, beneath it in a secured bunker. Within ten minutes all safeguards will fail, allowing you entrance from any Lexcorp building in the city."

Barda turned and began to walk away, opening another boom tube as she said, "Once he's dead, we'll be back to bring you to Apokolips. Be ready."

"Oh I will," Vandal said with a smirk as he watched them disappear.

The League of Assassins headquarters, Caribbean

Though ninja never truly existed, there was a group that were more similar to them than even to the Shinobi or Yakuza of old. Though called by many names, they are most known as The League of Assassins. For six hundred years they have been led by a single man known as Ra's Al Ghul, The Demon's Head. Though they fought across the world as it died around them, hundreds fought together, cutting limbs and heads from the parademon horde that assaulted their home.

Ra's was impressively tall, standing at 6'5, and was fairly lean though still muscular. His skin was a light brown, as were his eyes. His hair was mostly black while the sides were white, though this was a temporary experience. He held a sabre in his right hand and a cutlass in his left as he cut down his enemies with precision and skill that was almost super humans.

He fought alongside Lady Shiva, who wielded a katana, and fought with almost as much skill as him. She stood at 5'8 and was fairly thin, though she was far faster than her opponents. Her eyes were dark green and her hair light brown, while her skin was tanned brown.

As they drew close together Shiva shouted over the drum of wings and combat, "There's too many of them!"

"We need to hold out a few minutes longer!" Ra's yelled back, cutting the head off one parademon while stabbing another through the eye.

"Why!? We can't keep them back!"

"I sent word to our neighbors! We just need to hold a few more," before Ra's could finish his statement a laser tore through his side, splattering blood onto the ground.

"RA'S!" Shiva howled as she fought her way closer to him.

Despite his wound Ra's continued fighting, dropping his cutlass to hold his wound as he fought harder than most uninjured men. He growled, "Clear a path to the Lazarus Pit!"

"On it!" Shiva replied, cutting through parademons as she made her way closer to the castle's entrance.

There came a sound that one can only describe as the Earth splitting open, accompanied by a deep rumbling that shook the very foundation of the island. All were surprised by what they saw, even the parademons, who stopped fighting for just a moment to watch. A single massive pink tentacle rose over the castle, before crashing down into the horde, killing nearly two dozen parademons at once. More tentacles descended over the island as the creature pulled itself from the ocean, an army following it.

Standing atop the monster with trident in hand was Arthur, the king of Atlantis. His dark brown skin glistened from the sea water, while his brown and yellow hair and beard were somehow perfectly dry. His piercing brown eyes watched the battle below, the parademons now outnumbered as his own forces arrived. He dressed in orange and green scaled armor, which above water was somewhat odd to see.

He shouted to his own army, "AID OUR LAND BRETHREN TODAY! FOR ONCE WE ARE ONE PEOPLE, FIGHTING FOR OUR WORLD! ATLANTIS, MAKE YOUR WRATH KNOWN!"

Apokolips

A white boom tube opened on the planet's surface, letting loose a soundwave no louder than a shotgun blast. Orion was the first to exit, dressed in a bright red and blue suit while a silver helmet covered his head and golden bracers covered his wrists. He held in his hand a silver Mother Box that was slightly smaller than the one the Furies used. A moment later he was joined by the Suicide Squad, who took their places alongside him. Black Manta was last, and he held in his hand what looked like a large black briefcase, which held several buttons on one side and carried a nuclear warhead.

"Nice place," Deadshot chuckled.

"Shut up, Floyd," Killer Frost growled. "This place is hot. I'm not gonna be able to do much."

"All of you, shut up," Orion said. "Follow me and stay close."

He began to walk forward, not waiting for the Squad to follow him. Black Manta cast a gaze over the war factories surrounding them, unimpressed. They weren't much different than what he had seen on Atlantis, at least from the outside. Had he seen their interiors; he would have hurried in destroying the planet.

"Intel said there would be heavy resistance," Deathstroke said.

"By now the Furies should be on your planet," Orion replied. "We're dealing with the bare minimum, which is good for us. You wouldn't survive the Furies. Actually… take this. In case you do meet them," he said as he tossed Deathstroke the Mother Box.

"How does it work?" he asked.

"Just ask it where you want to go. Call it Mother."

"I'm not doing that."

There came the screech of a parademon, causing them all too quickly turn and watch as it began to fly away. "I've got it," Deadshot declared as he took aim with his sniper rifle.

A second later the parademon fell to the ground, leaving behind a green splatter, as smoke gently exited its skull. "Nice shot," Deathstroke admired.

"It's what I do," Deadshot replied as he placed his rifle over his shoulder.

"It was just a parademon," Orion said. "That's the weakest thing on the planet."

"Someone's grouchy."

Orion shot a glare back at him as he said, "We're facing Darkseid! Do you have any idea what's at stake?"

"Buddy, the world's doomed every other week. We save it every five. To us, this is just another big bad in a list a mile long."

"Whatever pathetic scum you faced before, they're nothing compared to Darkseid."

"What makes this guy so powerful?"

"Darkseid is."

"Darkseid is what?" Deadshot asked, but Orion didn't respond. "Darkseid is _**what**_?"

They came to a large hole in the ground, easily the size of a house, and perfectly round. It led down into absolute darkness and echoed out the sound of screams. As they looked down it Orion said, "This is where we part ways, Manta."

"I'm going alone?" Black Manta asked.

"It's nearly a straight run from here to the core. The rest of the Squad can't see in the dark. It's up to you."

Black Manta looked over the group one last time and decided for the tenth time he didn't like any of them, then jumped into the pit without saying another word. His jetpack activated a moment later, slowing his fall while just barely illuminating the hole. Every so often he would see a long-dried splatter of blood, while the structure changed considerably the deeper, he went. Stone became steel which became bedrock which became steel once more before technology took over.

Once he reached the bottom white light appeared around him, though he saw no source. Instead there was simply illumination, showing him a large square room with a single exit. He took a single step forward before an alarm went off, changing the light to red. Two door ways appeared on either side of him, and both released three grey squarish floating robots with red sensors into the room.

Silently he clenched his fists and began to charge an optical blast as the robots began to form a circle around him. One beeped as it began to charge its own blast, and Black Manta let loose, turning his head to hit all of them. Once finished their shells rested on the ground black and smoking while Black Manta stood unharmed, and a bit disappointed.

Above ground the Suicide Squad was getting their first proper taste of the parademons. Dozens flew at them from all sides, several remaining high in the air to shoot them while the rest charged. Deadshot quickly fired at each of the armed parademons while the others fought the unarmed parademons. Ice claws grew over the stumps of Killer Frost's fingers while in her right hand an ice dagger materialized, which she used to stab through the skull of a parademon. Orion fired yellow energy from his hands which ripped through the parademons' bodies with ease and left their insides burned to a crisp. Bane tore parademons limb from limb and beat others to death with the corpses of their kin. Deathstroke fought with his sword in his right hand and an Uzi in his left, slashing through parademons while shooting those to his sides and even behind him at the same time.

"How many of these things are there!?" Killer Frost asked, stabbing her claws through the eyes of a parademon while stabbing her dagger into its throat.

"Millions," Orion replied as he blasted a parademon as it lunged for Deadshot.

"We can't hold out forever," Deathstroke said as he slid underneath a parademon and cut it in half while shooting two more behind it.

"We don't have to," Orion said before punching through one's chest. "We just have to get the attention of a God."

Below the planet's surface Black Manta walked through a long hallway, windows on either side of him. Every two dozen feet there was a new room on either side, each one more miserable than the last. Some held bodies of monsters or humans, some prisoners of war and other inhabitants of Apokolips. Children cried as they were tortured by hundreds of different devices. Adults sobbed as they faced their friends to the death, most often dying as well. Tentacles wrapped over the limbs of both adults and children, tearing them to pieces, while only a few managed to kill the beasts first.

At long last he came to an exit, as radiation levels began to sharply rise. He stepped out onto a balcony overlooking a massive glowing red sphere, while gravity began to break away. He floated through the air, using his jetpack to gently propel himself forward towards the planet's core. Even in his suit he could feel the heat which made him sweat harshly. Still he wasn't deterred and raised the briefcase in front of him. He looked over the buttons, which only had three options: Activate, Delayed, and Deactivate. He pressed Activate then released the briefcase before propelling himself back towards the exit. How he would escape, he had no idea.

Above him the parademon horde was thinning, while high above them three massive explosions lit up the sky. "What the hell is that?" Frost asked as she stabbed through the heart of a parademon.

"Nukes," Deathstroke replied as he did the same, and threw his Uzi at another.

"Who the hell's nuking us?" Deadshot asked, tossing his rifle away before firing with his wrist guns.

"Someone who failed."

The remaining parademons began to fall away, still growling and screeching at the Suicide Squad. "They're here," Orion grimly declared.

Before any more words could be said an axe was thrown into the back of Killer Frost, sending her to the ground. Deadshot took aim while Deathstroke raised a handgun and Orion prepared for a blast of energy, none taking the time to assist the dying Killer Frost. She sputtered for air as her lungs filled with blood, her eyes wildly looking around for what attacked her, while she was unable to move from her shattered spine.

Her attacker was named Huntsman, and he stood at 6'1. He was fairly muscular and broad shouldered, though his clothes did little to show this. His hair was long and red, while his eyes were bright green. He dressed in green and black stripes in attire one would find at a renaissance festival, with a purple feather sticking out of a cap on his head. He held in his right hand another axe, which he twirled around absent mindedly.

"Son of High-Father," Huntsman mused. "I didn't expect to find you here."

"And… you are?" Orion asked.

"I… Huntsman?"

"I've never heard of you before."

"We fought! At the Battle of Peace Lake! I vowed to eat your heart!"

"I have no clue who you are."

Huntsman's face went red with rage as he yelled out, "Then just shut up and die!" before charging forward.

Deadshot and Deathstroke began to fire at him while Bane ran to meet him, their bullets doing little beyond surface damage. Huntsman raised his axe overhead and brought it down on Bane, only for the titan to grab hold of his arm and deliver a powerful blow to his gut. Though Bane was strong, he was just a man, while Huntsman was a God. That God returned Bane's favor with a similar blow, knocking him back towards the rest of the Suicide Squad. Orion weighed their chances against the Huntsman and found them lacking, so he gave them a single chance of survival. As the Huntsman drew close, he fired an energy blast, hitting him in the side and knocking him to his knees.

Deathstroke ran forward as Orion crept away from the battle unnoticed by the Squad. Deathstroke raised his sword overhead and brought it down onto Huntsman, splitting his skull nearly in half as it cut through bone and brain. The mercenary pulled it out with ease and twirled it around for a moment, forcing the blood from its blade, before sheathing it once more.

As he looked over the Suicide Squad he asked, "Where'd Orion go?"

Orion was fast and stealthy, but his presence on Apokolips was no secret. Parademons watched him from above, New Gods watched from the shadows. They watched and did not interfere, for it was the will of their master that he be unharmed. Not that they would have made much of an impact on him regardless.

Below the planet's surface Black Manta had once more reached the long hallway filled with windows, the horrors they held only worsening since he had left it. Though he was never one to act on emotion, he found himself compromised by the greatest of emotions, sympathy. He released another optical blast across the hallway, shattering every window he could, killing several people and monsters in the process.

Once more he continued walking forward, as behind him feet found their selves planted on a cold painless surface for the first time in years. Their came a great loud roar that shook the hall, causing several quiet screams, making Black Manta look behind him to see just what dared to challenge him. It was not the first time he came to face with a massive red dragon, though this one was much longer than it was tall.

"Son of Adam," it growled at him.

"Animal," he growled in return.

"I have lived for six million years, devoured kings and gods alike, and you call me an animal?" the dragon asked, though Black Manta didn't respond. "What a curious little human…"

With that it opened its maw wide, showing off rows of sharp teeth as it prepared to bite down on Black Manta, only for him to grab its snout and force it down with surprising strength. He was quick to pull a tether from his belt and wrap it around the dragon's mouth, before pulling a fishing knife from his belt and stabbing it into the dragon's snout. Then he tied the tether to the handle and moved past the dragon, patting it on the neck, before mounting it.

"I'll kll you fr dis…" the dragon growled.

"Just go," Black Manta replied.

It was mere seconds before the dragon reached the pit that Black Manta entered from. Though it had no wings, flight came easily to it, and it quickly rose from the darkness. The rush of wind was enough to knock Deadshot off his feet as it left the pit, before Black Manta jumped from it and landed alongside the Squad.

"You know how to make an entrance," Deathstroke admired.

"Is it done?" Bane asked.

"Yes," Black Manta replied. "Let's go."

"What about Orion?" Deadshot asked, rising to his feet.

"Is he here? No. So let's go," Bane said.

"Waller's expecting us to die, isn't she?" Deathstroke asked.

"Probably," Deadshot confirmed.

"What if we let her think so?"

"How do you plan on doing that?" Bane asked.

"I know a place where she'll never find us, where we can get the bombs out of our heads. We can lie low for a while, until you're ready to resume work."

The Squad looked to one another, but it was Black Manta who was first to say, "Sounds good."

Deathstroke raised the Mother Box and said, "Take us to Ra's Al Ghul," but nothing happened. So he let out a sigh and said, "Mother, take us to Ra's Al Ghul," which immediately caused a boom tube to open before them.

"Gentlemen," said Deadshot. "Let's see what fresh new hell is waiting for us."

There were six beings waiting for Orion as he kicked open the gates to Darkseid's throne room. The first was Desaad, the torturer. His appearance was something most would find lacking, as there wasn't much of one. He dressed in a simple red cloak whose hood appeared to cover his eyes, while in fact this was because he currently didn't possess any. However his mouth was filled with perfectly straight razor-sharp teeth the hands that emerged from his sleeves were gnarled and curled, though they possessed long and sharp yellowed claws.

Next was Death, who had once been human. She stood nearly seven feet tall though she was sickly thin. Both her eyes and hair are bright white, with her hair falling far down her back. What she wore was not quite clothing, but rather an extension of herself. It was mostly black, with white forming a floral pattern across her body, and a skull over her face. The only area where there was no clothing on her was the top of her head where her hair emerged from.

Then came War, who stood 6'3 and in stark contrast to Death was very muscular. He was fully armored, in a suit similar to Ares'. Unlike the god, War wore a suit more technological. Built into his suit were blue sun lamps, making him a far more powerful force than almost any opponent he may face.

Conquest was a massive centaur, though not one of terran origin. Instead of being an amalgamation of two creatures into a single being, they were two beings occupying a shared body. The body of what many would see as a man rose from the back of what many would see as a horse. Both were nearly skeletal, their flesh taut and dry. The horse's eyes were white and lifeless while the man's were black and hollow. The man carried with them a bow and quiver full of arrows, each arrow being three feet long.

Standing beside Conquest was Famine, who was once a Czarnian. She stood 5'11 and was sickly thin. Her red eyes were dull while her white skin was pasty and clammy. Worms crawled beneath her flesh, eating away at her muscular system only for it to quickly regenerate. Her black hair was cut into a mohawk, which allowed Orion to see a worm crawl out of her skull then eat its way back inside. She dressed in simple leather bindings and a chest plate, which provided very little protection, not that she would need it.

Lastly there was the God of Evil, Darkseid. Though he sits on a throne, there is no question that he is huge. When standing he is 8'9, and he is far muscular than War. His skin is grey and stone like, though it is far more resilient than stone. His body is completely bald, and wrinkles on his face serve to look like cracks. His eyes glow ominously red, filled with a powerful energy that made heat vision look like nothing. He dressed in a dark blue suit of armor with silver playing and a gold omega upon his chest. His arms are sleeveless, showing to those who looked upon him that his physical strength was greater than theirs. It was nothing compared to the power he possessed. What one could easily overlook were four rings upon his index and ring fingers. They were Red, Yellow, Orange, and Green. Each was filled with a great power that wars had been fought over but were simply trophies for Darkseid.

"So, the prodigal son returns," Darkseid said in an incredibly deep voice while Orion marched forward, and the Four Horsemen of Apokolips prepared for combat.

"I'm here to kill you," Orion growled, his fists pulsing with energy.

"You dare to threaten the great Darkseid?" Desaad asked as he pointed a claw at the God.

Orion fired a blast of energy, knocking Desaad onto his back as he said, "Piss off."

The Four Horsemen each took a step forward but stopped as Darkseid raised his fist. "Let me and my son talk," he told them as he rose to his feet and stepped towards Orion, bringing his hands behind his back.

"I am NOT your son!" Orion yelled at him, punching Darkseid in the gut with all of his strength.

"No, perhaps not," he said without feeling any pain.

"What!?" Orion asked in surprise, before punching him again. Then again. Then again.

"Enough of this," Darkseid said as he slapped Orion across the face, knocking him back ten feet. "You come into my home and attack me. Do you think there will be no punishment?"

"I don't understand," Orion said as he picked himself up and spat out blood. "The prophecy said that your son would kill you…"

"But as you said, you're not my son," Darkseid said as he stepped closer to him. "And are you really foolish enough to believe in something as primitive as a prophecy?"

Orion said nothing but instead let out a scream as he fired energy from both hands, which did little against Darkseid's chest. The God let out a sigh before firing Omega Beams from his eyes, bright red energy that zig zagged through the air before rising over Orion then hit him in the back, burning away his clothes and flesh as they knocked him to the ground.

"You'll never… win…" Orion gasped as he attempted to pick himself off the ground once more.

"I already have, a million times over," Darkseid replied as he grabbed Orion by his head.

A red boom tube opened before them, though Darkseid used no Mother Box to open it. He walked forward, dragging Orion with him, and stepped foot inside. They arrived in the planet's core, nearly an hour later, mere minutes after the Suicide Squad's bomb exploded. The core pulsed and let loose bolts of energy while a massive hole rested in its side, which slowly expanded as the core slowly ate itself in an attempt to remain stable.

"The efforts of your little plot," Darkseid told him. "It would have been quite devastating, but luckily I have you here to help me."

"I'll never… help you…"

"Not willingly," Darkseid replied before throwing Orion into the core.

Orion let out a scream as he felt his blood begin to boil and his flesh cook while his hair burned away. The core began to close around him, healing itself with his power. Even after it was completely healed Orion continued to live in agony, the core devouring him for all of eternity.

Darkseid said to himself, "A planet of war, fueled by the God of War. Fitting," then floated back through the boom tube.


	8. The Four Horsemen

Metropolis

The Batplane carried both Batman and Mister Miracle, making no effort to avoid the flying parademons. Their bodies were crumpled and torn open as the plane flew through them, leaving many to explode mid-air as the Batman looked for a place to land. Mister Miracle looked out the cockpit in a mix of shame and sorrow, knowing in a small way he had taken part in this genocide.

Below them the teenage heroes fought alongside Wonder Woman. The parademon horde was thinning, many of the monsters retreating while those that continued to fight were being cut down by the heroes. It seemed as though they were winning, and in a small way they were. As the Batplane set down near city hall, a yellow portal opened that let out three more heroes who had been missing since the invasion began.

"I don't understand," Amethyst said as she looked over the burning buildings and hundreds of corpses, parademon and human. "We were only gone for a few minutes…"

"We've been gone nearly a day," said Doctor Fate as he walked past her towards Wonder Woman.

"WHAT!?" Amethyst yelled. "HOW!? WHY!?"

"We weren't needed yet, girl," Doctor Chaos replied as she followed her husband.

"It's been a long time, Fate," Wonder Woman said as she pulled pressed a flagpole through the heart of a parademon.

"As long as needed," Fate said. "Up until this moment, my involvement would not have made any significant changes in the outcome of this war."

"Then why now?"

There came the telltale blast of a boom tube, the portal opening between Wonder Woman's group and Batman with Mister Miracle and Amethyst. From the boom tube came Big Barda followed by her Furies, who drew their weapons as they set eyes upon the heroes and began to spread out, Artemiz turning to draw her bow on Batman.

"Barda?" Mister Miracle asked, walking forward to see if it really was here."

"Scott?" Barda asked in surprise, turning to face her lover. They ran to meet each other, Barda grabbing Scott by his shoulders and lifting him into the air in order to hug him. She cracked his back as she held him tightly against her chest before extending him in front of her and said, "They said you died."

"How could I leave you behind?" Miracle asked, before leaning forward and kissing her nose.

Barda chuckled before asking, "What are you doing here?"

Mister Miracle took a moment to answer this before saying in a quiet and nervous voice, "Defecting…"

"Oh?" Barda asked.

"And helping the humans fight off Apokolips…"

"I see."

"Are you mad at me?"

"Scott, I am furious. However, I will stand by you no matter what."

"Really?"

"Of course. I love you, stupid," she replied before planting a kiss on his forehead. Barda then dropped him to the ground before turning to face her sisters, who stood waiting for confirmation to attack their enemies. She said, "Sisters, stand with me now. Stand against Darkseid and take back out individualities!"

There were no words said, for the Furies were never ones to speak with their enemies. Wunda charged at Barda with her great sword swinging down onto her, only for Barda to just barely manage to block it with her maul. Gilotina ran at Wonder Woman with a sadistic smile on her face only to be knocked to the ground by Knockout, who raised her shield and looked down to her sister with a grim stare as the Fury jumped back to her feet, and cut clean through Knockout's shield, cutting into her abdomen. Artemiz fired an arrow at Batman, only for the dark knight to grab it from the air and throw it back at her, causing her to take hold of it again and smile at him as she drew three more arrows. Bloody Mary had already acted out her attack, having simply locked eyes with Kid Flash.

Barda pushed Wunda back before striking her in the side with her maul, knocking Wunda to the ground with a cough of blood. Wunda only managed to look up before Barda brought the maul down on her skull, splattering her brains over the pavement. She had no time to mourn her sister before an arrow hit her in the shoulder, sparking Mister Miracle to charge at Artemis with a roar. He was quickly knocked off his feet by Kid Flash, now under the thrall of Bloody Marry, wile Gilotina's blades clashed over Wonder Woman's gauntlets.

Supergirl moved forward and punched Gilotina in the side of the face as quickly as she could, knocking the New God off her feet and freeing her of her weapons. Wonder Woman quickly grabbed the blades from the air and brought them down upon Gilotina, stabbing through both sides of her chest, and into her heart. Ahead of them Kid Flash ran at Batman, only for the caped crusader to grab hold of the teenage boy's arm, the force of stopping him breaking his own limb, before twisting Kid Flash's arm behind his back and holding him in place. Already Kid Flash begins to vibrate himself free, but the Batman is focusing on the puppet master. He pulls a Batarang free from his utility belt and throws it at Bloody Mary, hitting her in the back of the head, successfully severing her psychic link as she loses focus.

Kid Flash collapses beneath the Batman and asks, "W-what happened?"

"Mind control," Batman replied as he moved past him. "Stay down or take out the archer."

Kid Flash then looked to the fight between Artemiz and Mister Miracle, which was incredibly one sided. The Fury was fast enough to dodge each of the escape artist's attacks, while he was agile enough to escape each of hers. Each arrow she fired he was able to escape from, even those pointed directly at his chest. Then just like that Artemiz was knocked to the ground, with Kid Fish standing behind her, clutching the arm Batman had left a nasty bruise upon. Artemiz looked up to see Mister Miracle deliver a punch to her face, knocking her unconscious.

The Batman simply walked forward while Bloody Mary stared him in the eyes before she gave up and shouted, "Why isn't this working!?"

"Because I'm immune to telepathy," he replied before punching her in the face, the war suit's strength enough to knock her unconscious.

"That's convenient," Mister Miracle commented as he pulled one of Artemiz's daggers from her belt.

"Miracle, NO!" Batman growled, approaching him, while Wonder Woman nervously stepped in front of Gilotina's body.

"Relax, Bats, I wasn't gonna kill her," Mister Miracle said, less than a second before Barda brought her maul down upon Artemiz's skull. "You know, I could almost feel that coming."

Batman let out a sigh then said, "Any other day…" then looked back to the others. "Is everyone okay?"

"Of course," said Wonder Woman.

"Yeah!" Billy cheered.

"I'm alive," Kid Flash said as he vibrated his arm to speed up his recovery.

"Tired, but fine," Supergirl said.

"We are uninjured," Doctor Fate stated.

"That's because we didn't help," Amethyst mumbled.

"I'll live," Knockout said as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Furious," Barda growled.

"In love," Mister Miracle cooed as he hugged Barda.

"What happens now?" Wonder Woman asked as she approached Batman.

Barda raised her mother box and said, "I can take us wherever we need to go."

Just after saying this a parademon swooped down and snatched the mother box from her hands, before quickly fling away. Mister Miracle shouted out, "I got it!" and began to chase after it.

For a moment, the heroes stood together, relieved from the fighting. Though Barda and Knockout felt the pain of loss for their sisters, it was easy for them to move on. For just a moment, they knew peace. Then it ended as abruptly as one could imagine, with the menacing soundwave of a boom tube opening behind them. Wonder Woman, Kid Flash, and Batman turned to face their new enemies, though they would wish they hadn't. all stood in a mix of shock and fear, as War, Death, Famine, and Conquest stood before them.

"Big Barda," War growled from within his armor. "Report?"

Barda did not respond however, but instead another voice from below her. "W-war?" Bloody Mary asked, rising to her feet.

"Report," he repeated without acknowledging her.

"She's a traitor!" Bloody Mary shouted, pointing to Barda. "Both her and Knockout! They helped the humans kill the others!"

War and Death exchanged a mutual look, before Death said two simple words. She said just a name, "Bloody Mary," and then the Fury fell to the ground dead.

Conquest began to circle the heroes, his hand held loosely on his bow while he looked vacantly at them from behind his hollow eyes. Famine raised her left hand, which caused Bloody Mary's body to begin to convulse before it rose to its feet, limp and lifeless. War stepped towards them, the road cracking beneath his feet, while Death remained stationary. She simply watched them.

Wonder Woman charged at War, intending to punch him in the gut, only for the Horseman to easily grab hold of her arm and break it nearly in half. She let out a yell of pain while he moved his other hand to her neck and prepared to break it as well. Supergirl and Kid Flash both ran forward at once, Kid Flash breaking his hands as he punched War's armor, while Supergirl succeeded in knocking him back with a powerful blow to his chest, denting in his armor.

Batman drew three Batarangs and threw them at Conquest, but the Horseman simply ignored them while he raised his bow and drew an arrow. The Batman ran forward as Conquest pulled back his arrow, before the Batarangs exploded, doing little damage to the Horseman aside from momentarily blinding him. Batman jumped onto Conquest's back and brought an arm around his humanoid throat before pulling it back, breaking the horseman's spinal cord. Instead of dying however, his humanoid head fell limp, while his horse-like body began to shake and kick violently, bucking the Batman off of it.

Knockout wasted no time driving her sword through Bloody Mary's heart, but she continued to move, a puppet to Famine's will. Bloody Mary clasped Knockout's shoulders and opened her mouth, revealing sharp teeth, as she prepared to bite down. Barda quickly slammed her maul into Bloody Mary's head, ripping it from her shoulders, and revealing several worms that crawled through her throat stump. Knockout pushed the body back as Barda brought her maul down upon it several times, shattering its skeleton.

War punched Supergirl in the side of the ribs, breaking three, and knocking her into a building thirty feet away. He stepped over Kid Flash whose hands were still broken, as he looked up into War's empty black visor. From within it his invisible eyes began to glow red, charging up a blast of heat vision. Wonder Woman quickly tackled him to the ground, doing little more than knock him off balance. She looked back to Death and Famine before making two attacks at once. She wrapped her legs around War's throat, squeezing the life out of him as she threw her lasso around Famine's throat and tightened it, pulling her to the ground.

Batman ducked out of the way as Conquest's hooves pounded the pavement next to where his head had just been, before repeating the process as Conquest brought his hooves back up and stomped once more. He pulled his grappling hook from his belt and raised it as he dodged once again, firing blindly. The claw grabbed hold of Famine's skull as she was chocked by Wonder Woman, before reeling him in just before Conquest's hooves came down a final time where his head had just been.

War took hold of both of Wonder Woman's ankles and began to squeeze, fracturing her bones, before completely prying both her legs off him. He rose to his feet with Wonder Woman still in his grasp as she shouted, "A little help here!"

Batman charged at War and delivered a punch to his helmet, cracking it, but doing little to actually hurt him. War then proceeded to slam Wonder Woman over him, knocking the Batman onto his chest. He continued to beat Batman with Wonder Woman, severely injuring both of them. As Supergirl recovered she saw what was happening and let out a roar of rage before flying forward, punching War in the chest with both fists as she continued to fly, taking him with her as she crashed through two entire buildings. As they crashed through the wall of a third, he raised his arms overhead and brought them down upon Supergirl's back, breaking it beneath his might.

Supergirl fell onto her chest, gasping for air before coughing up blood. She could then breathe but could do little else as War rose to his feet over her. From behind his helmet, his eyes began to glow red, then so did hers. They both fired their heat vision at once, momentarily equal in power, before War began to put more energy into it. He overpowered her with impossible ease, his heat vision growing ever so closer to Supergirl's eyes.

Then by some miracle, a black fist hit War in the lower jaw, knocking his helmet off while he was thrown into the air before landing on his back. Supergirl looked up in relief and amazement as none other than Superman stood over her, dressed in a cape-less black suit while a silver shield rested on his chest.

"You're supposed to be dead…" she moaned as he crouched down beside her.

"And miss all the fun?" he asked, smiling to her with the same smile she only had a brief time to see before his death. Behind them War began to rise to his feet, causing Superman to sigh and say, "I'll handle this."

As Superman stood up and approached his enemy, he saw a foreign face that was all too familiar to Supergirl. It was the face of General Zod, though the man that he once was had died long ago. Now he was simply a servant to Darkseid, War of the Four Horsemen of Apokolips. His power had faded with the loss of his helmet, though not enough to allow Superman anything close to an easy win.

"Last son of Krypton," War said before spitting blood to the ground. "A shame you'll die so far from home. The same goes for the last daughter."

"Neither of us are dying here today," Superman replied, tightening his fists. "And neither do you."

"Oh, of course I won't die," he said with a smile. "Darkseid would never allow it."

The two flew to meet each other, their fists colliding with one another. Superman pushed the pain out of his head as his fingers splintered and focused that pain into the anger behind a strike to War's ribs, deeply cracking his armor. War then delivered a punch to Superman's gut, knocking him high into the air before flying after him. They continued to exchange blows, Superman doing little damage beyond cracking his armor, while War beat the Man of Steel to death a second time. The force of their blows were so great that as they knocked each other through the air, they left Metropolis all together, becoming little more than specks in the distance.

Kid Flash helped Supergirl back to her feet as she watched the fight unfold, not taking her eyes off of it. "What are you looking at?" he asked, unable to see what she did.

"Their fight," she replied with a pained voice. "Zod's… he's killing him again."

Barda and Knockout restrained Conquest together, holding his front horse-like legs in place while Batman stabbed his claws through the Horseman's chest, ripping out whatever he could while Conquest choked him to death. As Batman's vision began to go black Barda used the rest of her strength, mustering all she could, to tear the Horseman's leg from his body. He let out a scream of pure agony as he fell forward, releasing his grip upon the Batman to instead feel his severed stump. Barda then raised the limb overhead as it gushed blood over her and began to beat Conquest to death with his own severed leg.

Once again Famine raised her left hand and this time Conquest began to rise again. Knockout growled, "Not this time," then ran for Gilotina's corpse. She pulled her sister's swords from her body then through them at Famine, hitting her in the chest and throat.

Famine stumbled backwards, gurgling for help from Death, who only looked to her in disgust. Disgust that she was dying. Famine fell to the ground, staring up at the dark sky as she choked on her own blood. Then she fell limp, the last of her life leaving her. Death then exchanged looks from Famine to the traitorous Furies and Batman, before she began to slowly approach them.

"We have to help them!" Amethyst yelled at Fate and Chaos.

"Not until John Constantine arrives," Fate replied.

"And when will that be!?"

"In two seconds."

Two seconds later the burning portal of Constantine opened behind Death, letting loose a horde of demons that quickly overwhelmed her and began to climb over her, forcing her to the ground as they brought down blows over her trapped body. Riding atop the horde was Constantine himself, sat upon a conjured throne as he lit a cigarette.

"Am I late?" he asked, looking around at the devastation.

"You arrived as soon as you were expected," Fate told him, slowly fling forward with Chaos in tow. "That will not hold her?"

"What won'?" he asked, just before an explosively loud scream tore through the horde, liquifying the flesh and shattering the bones of those closest to it.

Death rose from the corpses and injured bodies of the Demons, before flashing out the throats of two with one hands. The demons carrying Constantine dropped him to the ground as they began to surround Death, only for her to let out another scream that ripped through their ranks. She then rose into the air, flying high above as she breathed in deeply.

"Oh, fuck me," Constantine whispered as he brought his hands over his head and then quickly shouted, "Em tcetorp!"

Fate raised his hand in the direction of the Furies and Batman, causing a golden bubble to appear around them, while Chaos raised her hand overhead and a blue bubble appeared around their own group. Death then let out her most devastating scream, ripping through the very Earth itself, and obliterating everything around the heroes whose magical shields were all that protected them. Constantine fell into the crater left behind, his shield having barely managed to hold out, while the others were safely let loose at the edge of the crater.

Death lowered herself to the crater's center, panting, before a green bubble suddenly appeared around her and the voice of Hal Jordan said, "Don't worry, I've got this."

"Who the hell are you?" Batman asked.

"I'm the Green Lantern," he replied with a smug grin.

"Oh, fuck me," Barda groaned, realizing if she lived, he would most likely arrest her for her many intergalactic war crimes.

The Green Lantern had no time to gloat however, as Death let loose yet another scream, this one shattering his shield. He looked back just in time to be hit by the soundwave, knocking him from the air. Fate and Chaos raised their hands, Fate forming a shield while Chaos formed a volley of arrows, while Amethyst charged forward with a battle cry. Fate's shield gave her protection while Chaos' arrows provided cover, while Death screamed all but one out of the way, the last one hitting her in the shoulder and burning her harshly. Amethyst reached her as Death grabbed at the arrow, only for it to burn her hand as well, before Amethyst stabbed through Death's gut and out her back. The Princess of Gemworld then poured magical energy into her weapon, imbuing it with purple light, before raising it upward into Death's chest, then into her throat before ripping it out.

Death fell to the ground dead, as Amethyst stood over her triumphant. The only words any of them had were, "Well done," from Doctor Fate.

After a few moments however, Green Lantern added, "That was fucking insane."

Gotham

War grabbed hold of Superman by the shoulders and threw him to the ground, leaving him embedded in the road as the Horseman descended. Though his armor was falling apart around him, he was still powered by blue suns, and was far more powerful than Superman could hope to be. Superman attempted to stand up, before a fist from War put him right back down. He tried once more, only for the same to happen.

"You can be so much more powerful, Kal-El," War told him. "Just renounce this pathetic world and join Darkseid."

"N-never…" Superman whispered, too injured to raise his voice at all.

"Hm. A shame," War replied, before punching him in the face once more.

"Leave him alone!" The voice of Mister Terrific cut through the air.

War looked up and saw Mister Terrific, Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man, Metamorpho, and Linnya Wazo standing before him. "Ah, the tin soldiers," he chuckled to himself as he stepped over Superman's broken body.

"Shut the hell up!" Metamorpho yelled before running at him and punching the Kryptonian as hard as he could in the face.

Metamorpho's hand cracked open while a single cut appeared on War's face, not even deep enough to draw blood, sparking him to say, "Impressive."

Then War grabbed hold of Metamorpho's hand and began to pull it back, making the element man scream in pain as his metal body was broken by a man made of flesh and bone. Martian Manhunter was quick enough to lay another punch on War's other cheek, doing the smallest amount of additional damage, before grabbing hold of his arm, causing it to phase harmlessly through Metamorpho and allow him to recover.

"Martian," War purred with curiosity. "Here I thought all your kind were dead."

"I am the sole survivor," Martian Manhunter replied as he stepped back away from War and prepared for a proper fight.

"Aren't your kind afraid of fire?" he then asked, his eyes beginning to glow red.

"What?" was all the Martian Manhunter had time to say before War's heat vision struck him, boiling his blood and igniting his flesh on fire.

As he screamed in pain it was Linnya's voice who ripped out through the air, "ENOUGH!"

War looked up to her, his heat vision fading away as she raised her arms and spread her hands wide. He could feel it in the air before it even affected him, it was a fear encoded in his DNA. He only needed to look over his shoulder to see it appearing behind him, the place every Kryptonian learned to fear. The Phantom Zone. By the time he looked back to her he was already being sucked inside, his armor being pulled from his body as he attempted to fly forward, even his great speed no match for it.

Plastic Man quickly wrapped himself around a fire hydrant before stretching forward, wrapping around every person there, with the exception of War. Even Superman was held safely before he could be dragged in, leaving only War who seemed almost suspended in the air, his eyes burning with rage.

"This won't be the end of me!" he yelled at them as he began to move backwards. "I am War of Apkolips! I am Zod of Krypton! I am-" and then he was gone into the vortex, the portal quickly closing behind him.

"That was amazing, Linnya," Mister Terrific said.

"Thanks," she replied. "It's how I got back here. Sort of."

"H-help…" Superman gasped, causing them to quickly run to his side.

Mister Terrific quickly looked over him before saying, "I don't even know how your alive. There's nothing I can do, not with anything on Earth."

"S-sun…" Superman said, his eyes looking to the rising sun of the morning.

"Sun?" Mister Terrific asked, first following Superman's gaze, before his eyes fell upon a stray piece of War's armor. "Plastic Man, grab that plating for me."

"This?" Plastic Man asked as he picked the armor up with a stretched-out hand, causing the ground beneath it to be cast in bright light.

Mister Terrific flipped it over, revealing the light of a blue sun so intense it nearly blinded him from the quickest glimpse. He then placed it over Superman's chest and said, "Everyone, get me as many pieces of that Zod's armor, it's the only thing that can help Superman now."

"On it," Metamorpho said as he stepped away with Linnya.

"Don't worry Supes, we got it!" Plastic Man said with a smile as he stretched into the air to search for far off pieces.

Superman looked to the rising sun once more as he began to drift into unconsciousness, before forcing himself to stay awake. He knew what would happen if he fell asleep, and he would not let himself die. Not when the world still needed to be protected.


	9. The God of Evil

Metropolis

Cold wind blew through the air as the heroes took in the first respite they had since war had begun. Suddenly, boom tube opened before them, sparking the heroes to prepare for yet another fight. Instead of more parademons or some other great threat, it was none other than Mister Miracle who appeared before them, a smug smile held on his face.

"Well, you guys sure are happy to see me," he joked as the boom tube closed behind him.

"Scott!" Barda yelled, running forward to sweep him off his feet.

"Barda!" Scott gasped as she hugged him tight, his feet thrashing for the ground. "Can't! breathe!"

"Oh, sorry," she chuckled before dropping him onto his feet.

As Doctors Fate and Chaos look over the scene, their hands found each other, before yellow and blue light consumed them. The Green Lantern had no choice but to look away as the gods and mortals became one singular being. As the light receded, what was left was an eight-foot-tall humanoid with four arms, a golden helmet, a blue amulet, as gold and blue armor mirrored each other.

"Just what is happenin' here?" Constantine asked, pulling himself from the rubble.

"We are no longer Fate or Chaos," they replied. "We are Balance."

"And why are ya doin this now?" he asked, looking up to the god as dark realization set in upon him.

Balance looked back to the heroes and said, "As the knights stand tall, the congregation takes in its final respite, before evil besets its tyranny upon earth."

"Anyone else catch that?" the Flash asked.

"It means he's here," Batman grimly said."

"Who?" Flash asked, looking to the dark night.

"Darkseid is," Barda said, fear filling her and Scott as the wind ceased around them.

"Flash!" Batman barked. "Find the Supers and your sidekick, make sure they're ready! Everyone else, form up!"

The Flash turned and ran, first in the direction Supergirl had flown as she battled War, leaving the others behind. Barda raised her Maul, Knockout and Amethyst drew their swords, Wonder Woman untwirled her lasso, Batman and Mister Miracle raised their fists, Shazam charged his lightning, Green Lantern readied his ring, Constantine prepared a spell, while Doctor Balance stood by and watched. This would be the final fight.

The soundwave that ripped through the air was far greater than those that accompanied the New Gods to Earth, yet the boom tube was hardly any bigger. As the heroes braced their selves, Darkseid emerged, his hands held behind his back as he took in the sight of Earth's last defense. Pitiful.

The Green Lantern let out a roar of rage as a giant fist extended from his ring, already punching into the God. Darkseid needed only to wave his hand, before a much larger yellow hand blocked his attack. Then it took hold of his fist and crushed it, extinguishing the energy as he took another step forward. Shazam pulled his arm back and threw a bolt of charged lightning, only for Darkseid to wave his left hand, smacking the lightning off course with an orange hand. Constantine pushed his hand forward, igniting a burning pentacle before it flew towards the God, only for him to continue walking through it, unphased by the flames that were great enough to melt steel.

"What is he!?" Shazam asked in disbelief.

"Darkseid is," Mister Miracle replied in a hopeless voice.

"A God," Batman growled as he threw several explosive batarangs into Darkseid's chest,

The weapons exploded, doing nothing to the God as he continued forward, leaving Wonder Woman to say, "I've killed gods before."

She charged forward with a battle cry, swinging her sword as she prepared to decapitate the God. He needed only to unleash a blast of the Omega Beams from his eyes to burn and electrocute Wonder Woman before throwing her back past the other heroes. The God said with a sigh, "Is this all your pathetic planet has to offer? I expected more from those who defeated my Horsemen."

The Green Lantern yelled out, "Enough of this!" as he rose into the air. "My name is Hal Jordan, savior of the fucking universe! I've defeated the Sinestro Corps, Starro, the literal fucking embodiment of fear! You're nothing to me!"

His ring crackled with energy as it struggled to produce enough power to fuel the weapon Green Lantern conjured. Around him appeared a massive cannon that rested on his shoulder, as an automatic loader was added to it, before a tray of missiles appeared locked in. with another yell of anger, the Green Lantern began to fire upon the God of Evil, each missile detonating the ground around him, leaving his fellow heroes to scatter for more stable earth as smoke surrounded the crater that held Darkseid.

As the smoke cleared, the Green Lantern gasped in disbelief as Darkseid stood uninjured, before dusting off his shoulder. Then he pulled back his right hand, red and yellow Mother Boxes appearing around it, before he simply extended his hand. The Mother Boxes sailed towards the Green Lantern, detonating before he could move, and engulfed him in artificial flames. He fell to the ground moments later, his uniform barely intact while his body was covered in burns.

Darkseid continued forward, as Amethyst charged at him with her sword held high. He simply smacked her out of the way, throwing the girl through the air before she collided with a building without stopping. The Batman looked back to the paralyzed New Gods before he ran forward himself, only to be stopped in place as Darkseid raised his left hand, causing orange and green hands to grab hold of the dark knight's limbs.

"I know you," the God said. "Bruce Wayne. I have use of you."

Then he flicked his wrist and sent the Batman flying in the same direction as Amethyst. Shazam flew forward, intent on ramming his fists into Darkseid, only for the God to headbutt him, sending the boy into the ground hard enough to shatter concrete. Darkseid raised his boot up and Billy Batson looked up in fear, the end in sight. Then a golden lasso wrapped around the God's throat, pulling him back a few feet, saving Billy's life.

"Use lightning, now!" Wonder Woman yelled, barely able to hold the God back.

"SHAZAM!" Billy yelled, summoning down the lightning of the heaven's upon himself and Darkseid.

Wonder Woman let out a yell of pain as she was blown away from her lasso, while the Batman recovered to see a horrifying sight. Billy looked up in terror as Darkseid stood before him, his armor scorched and his skin singed, but unphased. Once more Billy called down, "SHAZAM!" just as the God grabbed hold of his neck.

The boy gasped for air as Darkseid slowly strangled him with just one hand, holding him to the side as he walked forward. Both Batman and Wonder Woman ran forward, but they wouldn't be able to make it in time. It was Mister Miracle who snapped out of the paralysis first, finally charging into the fight. He lunged at Darkseid, only for the God to grab hold of his neck as well.

Darkseid held Mister Miracle up to look into his eyes as he said, "Scott Free. My favorite son. How disappointing."

"Bite… me…" Scott gasped, squeezing his father's wrist and kicking his chest as he attempted to break free.

Then suddenly, the master of escaping had succeeded to his own disbelief and was sitting on the ground before Darkseid. "Interesting," the God said as his son scuttled out of the way.

Behind him, Wonder Woman pulled down her sword, just barely cutting into the God's arm while the limb spilled out a substance similar to lava. Darkseid let out a growl of pain as he dropped Shazam before turning on the Amazon, delivering a punch to her gut hard enough to launch her through the air before Batman landed a punch to the back of his head. Darkseid turned to the human and delivered another punch, shattering the Batman's armor.

Darkseid then looked to Big Barda and Knockout as he said, "My Furies. You have a choice. Rejoin me, and face punishment, or stand against me, and die."

"I'm never serving you again," Barda growled, raising her maul.

"So be it," Darkseid replied, before shooting her with a blast of his Omega Beams.

As the Green Lantern laid defeated, unable to hear anything other than a static growl while his body refused to move, he was chosen a second time. A red ring descended before him as it said in a voice only he could hear, "Hal Jordan of Earth. You have great rage in your heart."

As the ring slipped onto his finger, the Lantern felt a pain beyond what he had felt at the hands of Darkseid. As his wounds healed, he began to vomit up his own blood, until nothing was left in his veins. Then the ring's energy filled him, fueling his rage beyond what he had known to be possible. Then the Red Lantern rose into the air, brandishing both his red and green rings as he brought his arms into an X.

"Perhaps your race is capable of something," Darkseid said just before the Red Lantern unleashed a blast of raw energy from both rings simultaneously. The God then said, "But it still isn't enough," as he extended both hands forward.

All four of Darkseid's power rings activated, constructing a cage around the Red Lantern as he attempted to push through the overwhelming force. Then he was trapped, his life being drained from his body by the orange and yellow constructs. That was until a human fist struck Darkseid across his cheek before the Flash appeared next to him, causing Darkseid to lose focus, and free the Red Lantern. Darkseid turned his attention to the Flash, only to be hit in the back of the knee as Kid Flash appeared alongside his mentor.

"So this is the big bad?" Kid Flash asked.

"Looks like it," the senior Flash replied.

"You as disappointed as I am?"

"Yup."

Both Flashes began to strike Darkseid across his body while Wonder Woman moved closer, and the Red Lantern began to construct a fleet of red and green fighter jets around him, while Constantine drew a pentacle across the sidewalk and muttered a chant. Shazam charged another round of lightning, and the Batman called the Batplane for reinforcments. The heroes would not be giving into evil. Not today.

The Flashes moved faster than the speed of light, a speed greater than what Darkseid was capable of, and yet the God reacted to them. He leeched the Speedforce from them, allowing him to grab hold of Barry's fist before using him as a weapon to slam into Wally before letting go. Both Flashes fell away with broken bones, as Wonder Woman drove her sword through Darkseid's back, spilling the lava-like blood onto her forearms. Even as her flesh burned she drove the sword deeper into the monster with a growl of fury, before he elbowed her in the face, knocking her away.

The Red Lantern unleashed his fury, his willpower, all of his rage and strength in the form of hundreds of hellfire missiles. The explosion was enough to blow away the other heroes, ruining Constantine's rune and completely obliterating the ground. Darkseid fell into the subway system below, his armor in ruin as his stone like flesh cracked and bled. He looked up to the Red Lantern with fury in his eyes before letting lose a blast of Omega Beams, which proceeded to zig zag through the air before hitting the Lantern, knocking him from the air as it took the last of his fight from him.

Darkseid rose into the air, his body perfectly straight and idle, as though he could simply defy gravity rather than flying like others did. Then he began to move forward, still holding completely still. Before he could reach the Red Lantern, a pair of fists slammed into his chest, knocking him backwards. The God looked up to see Supergirl flying before him, her eyes glowing red.

"I could use another Kryptonian," he said as he charged his Omega Beams. "A shame."

Supergirl let loose her heat vision as Darkseid fired his Omega Beams, both beams of energy meeting each other as their masters focused with all their strength. Unfortunately, Kara's strength was nowhere near that of a God. His Omega Beams overtook her heat vision, before striking her from the sky. As Supergirl fell, her costume burning, Knockout pulled herself from the rubble just in time to catch the girl of steel.

Wonder Woman returned to the battle, bloodied but determined, as she threw her lasso to her sword. Darkseid looked to her just as she yanked her arm back, ripping her sword from his body before it returned to her hand. The princess of Themyscira then jumped to the God of Evil as she roared, preparing once more to deliver the fatal blow.

Darkseid covered himself with an orange energy shield, but as the princess' blade struck the shield cracked. He was quick to resolve the situation, by crushing her with a red fist, before throwing Wonder Woman to the ground below. The sound of the Batplane filled the God's ears, and he turned just to see the jet collide with him, exploding upon contact. Still he remained, burned and injured, but stronger than what he faced.

"It's not working," Batman said as he looked on anger.

"Yes," replied Doctor Balance as they appeared behind him. "Now the rings fall to the new Lanterns, thanks to the efforts of Hal Jordan. Because of Diana of Themyscira, the God of Evil is weakened. Then I will defeat him."

"No, you won't," Batman told them. "In the future, you always lose."

"I… what!?" Balance asked, looking to him in surprise. "How do you know this!?"

"Flash gave me a flash drive from my future self, from a future where we lose," he explained.

"From a future… where you served the God?" they asked, looking back to Darkseid.

Across the country, four green power rings descended to four select humans. "Kyle Reiner, you have the ability to overcome great fear. You have been chosen."

"Jon Stewart, you have the ability to overcome great fear. You have been chosen."

"Guy Gardner, you have the ability to overcome great fear. You have been chosen."

Jessica Cruz, you have the ability to overcome great fear. You have been chosen."

The four Lanterns, each oblivious to one another, were filled by the strength and knowledge of the rings now in their possession. They each rose into the air and took flight, heading to the great evil that threatened their planet. Each of them had already lost so much, had seen such horror. Through their bravery they were made whole.

They arrived as Darkseid hovered in the air before Batman and Balance, his own power rings activating. Together the four lanterns attacked, stopping the God of Evil where he stood, their will together enough to hold back Darkseid's own will, his rage, his greed, and his terror. Balance needed only to raise a single hand to project an ankh onto Darkseid's chest, burning through his armor and flesh.

The God began to growl with pain before Balance extended their right arm and Darkseid's ribcage began to squeeze tight against his lungs. They raised their lower left arm and his legs were forced tight as they began to break. Balance then raised their lower right arm, feeding their strength into the Green Lanterns. Simultaneously, Darkseid's power rings shattered, taking with them his ring and index fingers.

Darkseid let out a yell of pain before firing his Omega Beams at Jessica. She blocked with her arms, subconsciously developing a green shield around her, but the Omega Beams simply zigzagged around her. Instead they struck Doctor Balance, ripping their personalities apart and casting the various entities back to their respective domains. Only Abdul remained, his body scorched and broken while the helmet of Nabu remained just barely out of his reach as the Green Lanterns were thrown across the battlefield.

"Puny gods," Darkseid growled as Batman hurried to aid Abdul.

Behind the God, Amethyst raised her sword overhead as she stood amidst the ruined road, charging all of her power into her weapon. Darkseid turned as she pointed her sword to him, firing a blast of magical energy that washed over him and blew him into a nearby building. With all of her energy depleted, Amethyst fell to her knees, and drifted into unconsciousness.

"The… helmet…" Abdul whispered, grasping towards Nabu.

The Batman reached for it, only to watch as the helmet flew away, landing in the waiting arms of Constantine. The man pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket and began to draw a pentagram on its forehead as he said, "Sorry mate. Its time to do what the Hellblazer does best."

Constantine dawned the helmet of Nabu, imbuing himself with the power of a god. Nabu himself, however, was locked within Constantine's mind instead of the other way around. The man's eyes began to glow white, before flames crept out of them as he flew forward to face the God of Evil, who now returned to the battle. Before Constantine's right hand appeared a golden ankh, while before his left appeared a flaming pentagram. He brought the two sigils together, unleashing a powerful blast of demonic and godly energy that tore Darkseid's skin from his body, but still didn't stop the God.

"What the hell are you!?" Constantine asked, drawing a circle in the air to summon a portal.

"The God of Evil," Darkseid replied as demonic bats poured out from Hell to attack him.

With a blast of his Omega Beams, the demonic swarm was disintegrated, and the portal closed. With a swing of his fist, Darkseid defeated Constantine, and cracked open the helmet of Nabu. Kyle flew back to Darkseid with a yell, a suit of green armor with a bladed helmet materializing around him before he collided with the God, cutting open his back. Darkseid growled just once, before striking Kyle in the back, sending him back down to the ground with his comrades.

"This cannot be the best Earth has to offer," Darkseid said to the injured heroes, now only the Flashes and two of the Lanterns able to still fight.

"Not quite," came a heroic voice from above.

Darkseid, along with the humans below him, looked up to see the heroic face of Superman, though he now war a scowl. Darkseid said, "So, you still live. You couldn't even defeat Doomsday, what hope do you have of defeating me?"

"Well, I got a power boost," Superman replied before he was suddenly floating in front of Darkseid, before punching the God hard enough to send him flying backwards. "I think it was enough."

The Man of Steel began to beat the God of Evil through the air, avoiding as many blows as he could. Even with the power of a blue sun, Superman wasn't enough to defeat Darkseid. The Earth's yellow sun continued to affect him as well, slowly draining the additional power he had received, until Darkseid was able to gain the upper hand. The God began to land blows Superman couldn't dodge or block, targeting areas Zod had already injured earlier, before beating him back down to Earth.

Watching the fight, Barry turned to Wally and said, "I know what to do."

"Fastball special?" Wally asked.

"Not quite. Infinite mass," he replied.

"Oh," Wally said in realization. "Infinite force."

Together the two began to run in opposite directions, as fast as they could go. Darkseid continued to beat down Superman, punching him through several buildings before resuming the fight. As Batman tended to the injured he had no idea what was happening, only guessing that the Flashes were doing what had been left on the flash drive. He was soon joined by Mister Miracle, who pulled Big Barda out from beneath the rubble, and quickly began to assist in looking for the others, while the Green Lanterns flew to assist Superman.

As Darkseid approached the injured Man of Steel, Jessica and Jon trapped him in place with green chains and a strait jacket, giving Superman time to recover. Then then the God of Evil fired his Omega beams, hitting both Jessica and Jon, knocking them from the air and freeing himself. He stepped forward, before his attention was drawn to both Barry and Wally running towards him from opposite directions with their fists held high.

Both their voices screamed out, "INFINTEEEE MASS," leading up to their attack.

As Wally West ran, he began to disappear, atom by atom, molecule by molecule, feeling nothing as he went. Then he was gone, leaving Darkseid to grab Barry's arm before his attack could even land, the sudden force unleashing a massive explosion around them. The Lanterns and Superman were blown away, leaving only Darkseid and the Flash standing, before the God broke the man's arm and forced him to his knees.

"It appears the speed was too much for young Walter West," Darkseid said as he charged the Omega Beams to kill Barry.

"PUNCH!" Wally roared, his fist materializing inside of Darkseid as the superhero returned to existence.

Reality itself was torn away around Wally as Darkseid stumbled away, his body disintegrating outwards from where Kid Flash had struck. Barry looked from his side kick to the God in disbelief, as the heroes able to walk arrived to watch Darkseid die. The God's mouth opened as he attempted to speak, his torso now virtually none existent as his shoulders and legs somehow remained mobile, before they too disintegrated, until nothing was left of Darkseid.

"What just happened?" Guy asked, as Wally stood panting, smoke rising off his suit.

"He did it," Barry replied. "The Infinite Mass Punch… he actually did it…"

"And that is?" Guy asked.

"It doesn't matter, Wonder Woman said. "The boy did it. He's a hero if I've ever seen one."

"Well done… son," Superman groaned, walking up to him.

"I, wow, thank you, sir!" Wally squeaked before his hero.

"Tone it down, buddy," Barry said as he rose to his feet, holding his broken arm as it healed.

"Eye see you," came a haunting and robotic voice that none of them had ever heard before. "Eye see everything."

The heroes turned their attention in the direction of the voice, but no person stood there. Instead they gazed into a stretch of empty white space torn into the universe, where a man with black skin and grey hair stood looking away from them. Then the image changed, to show two men sitting on a park bench at night, their faces out of view.

"What is this?" Diana asked.

"I think it's… another universe?" Barry offered up. "Or maybe… the future."

"I was going to kill myself tonight," one of the men said, before the image changed again.

This time Deathstroke stood beside Ra's and Talia Al Ghul as he said, "Tell me, Batman, did you really think we would just let you have this?"

The image changed again to show Wonder Woman battling a strange alien in a purple suit of armor alongside Superman. Then it changed again to show Roy Harper, dressed in a red suit and hood, standing off against an unseen figure, tears leaking down his mask and cheeks as he considered letting go of his bowstring.

"You can't do it, Roy," his opponent tells him.

"Did any of it mean anything to you!?" Roy asks him, his voice breaking at the end.

"No," the other man says, before Roy lets loose his arrow.

Then the image showed a starfish, floating in the void of space. At last it showed black dress, with two impossibly long and wide white hands covered by black fishnets. Then the hands moved forward, pushing the edges of the tear in reality as impossibly long white claws bent outwards, into the heroes own reality. Wonder Woman was quick to act, dashing forward and cutting a claw from the hand, causing its owner to recoil on the other side of reality.

The Green Lanterns raised their hands and began to repair the tear, sewing it shut with their rings, as the figure on the other side began to bend down. Before the tear closed, they had just enough time to see a flash of orange. Then they were left alone, seemingly safe at last, even as the world remained in ruin around them.

"Is it finally over?" Shazam asked.

"No," Abdul gasped as he approached them with the assistance of Batman. "We saw… he wouldn't…"

Scott Free let out a sigh and said, "It was too easy."

"You call that easy!?" Guy asked, gesturing to the chaos around them.

"Yes," Barda growled as she picked Guy up by the scruff of his neck.

"Stop fighting," Diana ordered. "Let's just enjoy this win."

"We still don't know what he was really after though," Batman said.

"Of course we do," Scott replied. "He wanted to conquer your planet."

"No," Barda grimly said. "What he wanted, what he's always wanted… was the Anti-Life Equation."

"And why does he want whatever that is?" Jessica asked.

"Because," Scott said. Darkseid is."

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God.


End file.
